Father Mitch Pacwa had Irish Priest, Father Bernard McGuckian, S.J. on his show tonight

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Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J., host of the the EWTN Live program on that television channel (Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. CDT) had Father Bernard McGuckian, S.J., and Irish priest on the show tonight.

Father McGuckian is the head of The Pioneer Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, a group based largely in Ireland, but also throughout the world. The group fosters total abstinance from alcohol and other dependency habits. It is not a program designed to replace Alcoholics Anonymous since it has existed since long before AA, 1898. It is a prayer and a promise. It was designed to save families. So you don't have to be addicted yourself to be a member. All the founders were co-dependents.

Are you looking for a Spiritual Adviser who also understands blogging?

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I recently discovered on one of my voluminous internet excursions a blog by a St. Thomas professor, "Creo en Dios!" I think that most good Catholics can translate that Spanish (I think it's Spanish). Professor Susan Stabile, who teaches in the UST Law School, has this beautiful contemplative blog to which she posts a few paragraphs quite regularly. You can also subscribe to it for daily emails.

She also is available as a spiritual adviser, something in very short supply these days. My review of her blog indicates to me that she is very solid. I would imagine that she charges for her service but most people only use them once a month or so.

Today, she posted on the Examen, sort of a daily private confession, more accurately, a review of what happened today, that we all should be using. This one is short enough that I just might give it a try. I haven't been able to stick with the longer versions I have seen.

Part of my daily prayer is to engage in an examen of consciousness, a prayer in which we try to find the movement of the Spirit in our daily lives. This was a prayer that was very important to St. Ignatius and he encouraged all of his followers to make it a part of their daily prayer. (In fact, he asked his Jesuit companions to pray it twice each day.)

I have been including this as part of my daily prayer for at least eight years. There are many methods of doing this prayer; the one I generally do is the one described in this article by Dennis Hamm, S.J., which originally appeared in America magazine. I find it a very helpful part of my day.

During the closing liturgy of a day of retreat and reflection I gave the other day, the priest explained to us a short form of the examen that he uses with his high school students. They do this just before lunch each day. I share it because it seems to me that whether or not one includes a longer examen at the end of each day, this would be a worthwhile exercise to engage in during a break in the middle of our day. His short-form examen has three parts:

Step 1: How do you feel right now? Get in touch with what the feeling is and give it a number from 1-10.

Step 2: Why do you feel that way? What are one or two things that are contributing to the way you are feeling right now? The priest described this as “putting flesh on the number” given in step 1.

Step 3: P&P – praise and petition, or simply – prayer. Pray whatever prayer seems right, whatever you want to say to God given what came up in Steps 1 and 2. Perhaps gratitude…perhaps a plea for some help. Whatever it is, share with God what is going on in you and what you need.

That’s quick and easy enough to work into a mid-day break. Try it. Creo en Dios

There are no rules with examens. You may alter those questions to reflect your life.

National Catholic Register's Reporting of Fr. Tim Vakoc's bombing injuries in 2004

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I finally subscribed to the National Catholic Register a couple of months ago. (If you don't, you should). A search of their archives (only available to subscribers) reveals a few articles mentioning Father Tim Vakoc, including this first one that probably appeared in print after Father Tim was gravely injured by that booby trap bomb in Iraq.


In Iraq, Soldiers Find Their Greatest Allies in Chaplains: May 30-June 5, 2004 Issue

“Priest-chaplains are crucial to the morale of our soldiers in the way they show them the face of Christ in the darkness of terror and death,” said Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, vicar general of the Archdiocese for Military Services U.S.A. “Even in war, they remind our people that they must fight with a spirit of peace in their hearts to re-establish justice and freedom. They are to be ambassadors of peace and guardians of life.” [Msgr. Callaghan is currently Rector of the St. Paul Seminary of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis].

Like Msgr. Callaghan, Father H. Timothy Vakoc, an Army major in the 44th Corps Support Battalion, also speaks of “dark situations.” When two soldiers were killed in early May, he flew to the Combat Surgical Hospital to be with other soldiers who were in the convoy. Another died at the hospital just before he arrived. He prayed for him and prayed with an injured soldier.

“I spent time with the other soldiers who were physically all right but in a state of shock,” Father Vakoc said in an e-mail interview from Iraq. On his return to the unit's main base, he met with another company who had lost a soldier that morning in an attack.

On another occasion, the priest listened to a soldier as he discussed his faith. The soldier was a lector at the Mass that day. Just days later, Father Vakoc celebrated a memorial Mass for the young man — he had died after being hit by a roadside explosion.

“The bottom line in helping these soldiers through the grieving process is to be present to them and walk with them,” Father Vakoc said. “I prayed with the soldiers, I prayed for the soldiers who died, I brought the sacraments of the Church and the light and love of Christ into the darkness of the situations. . . .”

Father Vakoc calls it a “ministry of intentional presence.”

“I live with [the soldiers], work with them, eat with them, care for them, listen to them, counsel them,” he said. “The soldiers know if you are real and genuinely care or not. The soldiers see me out there with them and that makes a difference.”

Father Vakoc was injured by a roadside bomb on May 29, 2004, before this Register article was read by subscribers.

Humor and Guts: Stories abound about injured priest hero - June 20-26, 2004 Issue

He had a sense of humor and a disregard for danger. That's how friends and family sum up a Catholic priest who has become the first chaplain wounded in Iraq. That was while the priest was in Bosnia.

Father Timothy Vakoc (pronounced Va-KICH) was critically wounded by a roadside bomb May 30 while returning to base after celebrating Sunday Mass for soldiers in the field. It was the 12th anniversary of his ordination.

“He took the brunt of the blast,” his brother Jeff told the Register.

The blast caused Father Vakoc to lose his left eye. He sustained trauma to the brain, has paralysis on his right side and, as the Register went to press, was fighting a bacterial meningitis infection common among soldiers injured in Iraq.

After being treated at an Army field hospital in Baghdad, he was evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. On June 2, he was transported to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

According to his sister, Anita Brand, his condition is “critical, guarded, stable and hopeful.” Doctors have been keeping him in a chemically induced coma to allow his brain to heal.

Father Vakoc felt Iraq was “where he needed to go,” said his brother, Jeff. “He felt it was God's will and was positive about what the military was accomplishing in Iraq.”

Father Vakoc once told his sister, “The safest place for me to be is in the center of God's will.”

The Register interviewed Father Vakoc shortly before he was injured. That interview, in which he described his “ministry of intentional presence” was widely quoted after the attack.

“The bottom line in helping these soldiers,” he said in the e-mail interview, “is to be present to them and walk with them. I prayed with the soldiers, I prayed for the soldiers who died, I brought the sacraments of the Church and the light and love of Christ into the darkness of the situations.”

The family said what they need most now is prayers. “We're very blessed. Everyone has a prayer chain going for Tim,” Jeff added. “My hope is that he comes back and is at least able to function.”

Disarming Faith

His colleagues and parishioners describe Father Vakoc as “very down to earth.”

“He's a man with no guile,” Father John Echert said. “He worked hard at preparing his sermons and people felt very comfortable with him.”

Polly and David Novack agreed. They were married by Father Vakoc in 1995. She commented on Father Vakoc's honesty and humor.

“If he felt you should get your life in order, he would say so,” Polly Novack said. “When I discovered I was pregnant with my third child, I was very upset. Father Vakoc told me, ‘God must think you're a good parent. Thank God for it.’”

She said Father Vakoc also had a knack for bringing humor to tough situations.

Capt. Felix Acosta of the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion in Mosul confirmed that.

Father Vakoc forgot to bring holy water to this year's Easter Mass, so he took a bottle of drinking water soldiers carry around, blessed it and made “what he thought was a small opening on the cap,” Acosta recalled. “Boy, we got drenched.”

Father Francis Kittock supervised Father Vakoc's first assignment at St. Charles Borromeo Church between 1992 and 1993.

“He was a free-spirited person who loved people,” said Father Kittock, now retired. “He usually packed too much into one day and had a reputation for being late, but he always made it. He could travel anywhere, anyplace, anytime and feel at home, so he found the right niche when he went into the Army.”

One of Father Vakoc's superior officers said he was impressed by the priest's dedication to serving God and his fellow soldiers.

“The fact that he was returning from service for our soldiers shows that he never let the dangers of our battlefield prevent him from serving,” said Lt. Col. Dennis Thompson with the 296th Brigade Support Battalion stationed in Mosul.

Thompson explained that Father Vakoc's attempt to provide Mass to all the soldiers in the Stryker Brigade was most challenging.

“Our soldiers are often spread out in numerous places over an area the size of Connecticut, always through hostile territory,” Thompson said. “None of this prevented Father Tim from being there for the soldier. Wherever we went, Father Tim would conduct a Mass, often for only two or three soldiers who were located on remote outposts.”

A 1978 graduate of Minneapolis’ Benilde-St. Margaret's Catholic School and a graduate of St. Cloud State University, Father Vakoc was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in 1992. He first served as associate pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Church in St. Anthony, Minn., and later as pastor at St. John Neumann in Eagan, Minn., from 1993 to 1996. He left that post to join the Army.

Father Vakoc served a three-anda-half-year assignment at Fort Carson, Colo., before being assigned as chaplain for the 44th Corps Support Battalion from Fort Lewis, Wash. The 44th provides logistical support to the Fort Lewis-based units working across northern Iraq, including the Task Force Olympia headquarters and the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the Army's first Stryker vehicle brigade. Father Vakoc was deployed to Iraq last November.

At War, At Ease

Col. Thompson recalled Father Vakoc's service when their unit was in a particularly tight spot.

While returning to home base from one of their visits, Thompson's vehicle broke down. Unable to repair the vehicle, the convoy was forced to tow it the rest of the way.

“As we entered the outskirts of Mosul, one of our vehicles was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade,” Thompson said. “We had to stop, treat casualties and secure our convoy.”

Father Vakoc “immediately responded and cared for the casualties and made sure no one else was hurt,” Thompson said. “We eventually made it home in a safe manner. As we dropped him off he quipped that he appreciated the exciting trip and was looking forward to the next one.”

Hundreds of well-wishers — including priests and religious, family and friends from around the world — have left messages and prayers for Father Vakoc. His sister, Anita, has posted updates regarding his condition on a Website that keeps family and friends informed of the progress of hospital patients (http://www.caringbridge.com/mn/timvakoc).

Whether it's fellow soldiers, fellow priests or parishioners, Father Vakoc has always made an impact on those he meets.

In November 2002, shortly after the birth of their third child, the Novacks had Father Vakoc over for breakfast. The priest was on leave at the time.

“Our son Charlie was then 3 years old,” Polly Novack said. When she recently told Charlie that Father Vakoc had had an accident, Charlie said, “He's the man that made you laugh and cry when you told him goodbye.”

Looking for Confession and Mass Tuesday June 23 - Thursday June 25 - Go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Robbinsdale, MN

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Looking for Confession and Mass Tuesday June 23 - Thursday June 25 - Go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Robbinsdale, MN

This coming week we are happy to be able to offer daily Mass during the biannual Presbyteral Assembly. Please welcome Fr. William D. Brenna, a newly ordained priest of the Diocese of Superior, as he offers Mass for our parish on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week... Confession will be offered through the week following the usual schedule. Don't work Fr. Brenna too hard, as he is still a neophyte priest. [Father Brenna's first assignment is in the parish of St. Patrick's in Hudson, Wisc. His appointment takes effect July 1, I believe.]

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

www.sacredheartrobbinsdale.org
4087 W Broadway Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55422-2293
(763) 537-4561

Beloved chaplain, Father Tim Vakoc, survived Iraq war explosion, ministered until his death

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Father Tim Vakoc's funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapel, 15800 37th Avenue North, Plymouth

The Rev. Tim Vakoc once told his sister that the safest place for him to be was in the center of God's will.

"If that is in the line of fire, that is where I will be," he had said.

Five years after being injured in a roadside bombing in Iraq, the Army chaplain and former Twin Cities Roman Catholic priest died Saturday night at age 49 in a New Hope nursing home. His family declined a request for an interview and did not elaborate on the cause of death.

"A man of peace, he chose to endure the horror of war in order to bring the peace of Christ to America's fighting men and women," Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a prepared statement. "He has been an inspiration to us all and we will miss him."

Since his injury, hundreds of people followed Vakoc's progress on his CaringBridge Web site. He also had many visitors, some of whom ministered to him with massage and other alternative therapies. But just as often over the past few years, he was the one to dispense solace, despite the lasting effects of a brain injury.

"His family and many people believe that his preaching never stopped," said college friend Sue Kaiser, who last saw Vakoc earlier this month at a celebration of his ordination anniversary. "His new podium was his hospital bed. He continued to reach out to people, just in a different way. His room was always a very calm, warm and peaceful environment. I'm not a spiritual person, but when I visited him, I did feel the busyness of the world go away."

Henry Timothy Vakoc (pronounced vah-kich) grew up in Robbinsdale and Mound, attended Benilde-St. Margaret High School and majored in marketing at St. Cloud State University. After college, he worked several years as a national representative for Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

He entered St. Paul Seminary and the Army Reserve almost simultaneously. After serving at St. John Neumann in Eagan and at St. Charles Borromeo Church in St. Anthony, Vakoc became a full-time Army chaplain in 1996, first in Bosnia and later in Iraq.

"Once he got into the military, he really began to shine as a priest," said his close friend and a former seminary classmate Mike Strande. "He found his niche. And he absolutely loved being with the soldiers."

Those who knew him said he had a quick wit and a true desire to get to know people.

"I live with (the soldiers), work with them, eat with them, care for them, listen to them, counsel them," Vakoc once told the National Catholic Register. "The soldiers know if you are real and genuinely care or not. The soldiers see me out there with them, and that makes a difference."

Platoon leader Dawn Wheeler recalled in a previous Pioneer Press story how Vakoc once lifted soldiers' spirits during the first Easter season in Iraq by using bottled water for holy water and poking holes in the bottle to create a sprinkling effect.

"He made services very interactive," she said. "He would ask questions and actually call on people to answer the questions. Sometimes, you would be sitting on your hands so he didn't call on you. ... He'd send us from Mass with homework assignments."

Vakoc was wounded on May 29, 2004, the 12th anniversary of his ordination. It is believed he was driving a Humvee back to base after celebrating Mass in Mosel, Iraq, when a homemade bomb was thrown through a window. Shrapnel exploded into the side of his skull and left eye. Two passengers were unhurt.

He underwent surgery in Iraq and intensive care in Germany before his transfer to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, where he battled a stroke and infections. He eventually stabilized enough for a move later that year to the VA Medical Center at Fort Snelling, which specializes in rehabilitation after traumatic brain injuries. In December 2005, he was discharged to the St. Therese nursing home in New Hope.

During the next several years, his progress defied prognosis. After doctors felt they had done everything they could, family and friends volunteered to help with exercises and alternative therapies. He emerged from an unresponsive state and at the end of his life understood and responded to those around him, friends said.

"He became an inspiration to me because of his tenacity to get better," Strande said. "He had such a love for life."

Earlier this month, dozens of friends and family members gathered in the nursing home chapel for a special Mass commemorating the anniversary of his ordination and his recovery thus far.

He was able to hand his goddaughter Communion, the first time since his injury, and utter a benediction of "God bless."

Vakoc's funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapel, 15800 37th Avenue North, Plymouth. For details, call the funeral home at 763-537-4511.
Pioneer Press

Church Musicianship

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I"m sure that most of you are quite familiar with the First Commandment in the Church Musicians' Song Encyclopedia: Thou shalt play and sing all the verses of the selection printed in the hymnal or song sheet, even if Father is standing at the altar looking at his watch, wondering if he will be able to make it to the first tee on time.

I generally am quite grateful that the Stabat Mater ("At the Cross Her Station Keeping") with its two dozen verses is almost never sung at Mass.

But I did experience this morning a commandment with which I had not ever become familiar. Our accompanist, noting that somebody had goofed up and selected a hymn with only three verses, played the tune of the hymn a fourth time completely through anyway. I suppose the Church Musicians Guild has a rule that you don't get paid unless you play at least four verses.

It's always something.



This morning

Five Myths on Fathers and Family that are aiding in the destruction of them

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Be on the lookout for stories with these bogus memes

With Father’s Day almost upon us, expect a host of media stories on men and family life. Some will do a good job of capturing the changes and continuities associated with fatherhood in contemporary America. But other reporters and writers will generalize from their own unrepresentative networks of friends and family members, try to baptize the latest family trend, or assume that our society is heading ceaselessly in a progressive direction. So be on the lookout this week for stories, op-eds, and essays that include these five myths on contemporary fatherhood and family life.

1. THE ‘MR. MOM’ SURGE
Open a newspaper or turn on a TV in the week heading up to Father’s Day and you are bound to confront a story on stay-at-home dads. I have nothing against stay-at-home dads, but they make up a minuscule share of American fathers.

For instance, less than 1 percent (140,000) of America’s 22.5 million married families with children under 15 had a stay-at-home dad in 2008, according to the U.S. Census. By contrast, about 24 percent (5,327,000) of those families had a stay-at-home mom. This means that the vast majority — more than 97 percent — of all stay-at-home parents are moms, not dads.

The focus on Mr. Mom obscures another important reality. In most American families today, fathers still take the lead when it comes to breadwinning: In 2008, the Census estimated that fathers were the main provider in almost three-quarters of American married families with children under 18. Providership is important to protect children from poverty, raise their odds of educational success, and increase the likelihood that they will succeed later in life. Thus, the very real material contribution that the average American dad makes to his family is obscured by stories that focus on that exotic breed, the stay-at-home dad.

2. WOMEN WANT EVERYTHING 50-50
Another prevailing media myth is that contemporary women are looking for fathers who will split their time evenly between work and family life. It may be true for the average journalist or academic, but it is not true for the average American married mom.

Most married mothers nowadays do want their husbands to do their fair share of housework and childcare. But they do not define fairness in terms of a 50-50 balancing act where fathers and mothers do the same thing at home and work. Instead, contemporary mothers take into account their husbands’ work outside the home when they assess the fairness of the division of labor inside the home.

Moreover, most women who are married with children are happy to have their husbands take the lead when it comes to providing and do not wish to work full-time. For instance, a 2007 Pew Research Center study found that only 20 percent of mothers with children under 18 wanted to work full-time, compared with 72 percent of fathers with children under 18. My own research has shown that married mothers are happiest in their marriages when their husbands take the lead when it comes to breadwinning — largely because his success as a provider gives her more opportunities to focus on the children, or balance childcare with part-time work (the most popular work arrangement for married mothers). So, on this Father’s Day, dads who are fortunate enough to hold down a good job and make a major contribution to their families’ financial welfare should take some comfort from the fact that they are likely to be boosting not only their families’ bottom line but also their wives’ happiness.

3. MARRIAGE IS JUST A PIECE OF PAPER
With the rise of cohabitation over the last 40 years, a large minority of American children will spend some time in a household headed by a cohabiting couple. Experts now estimate that about 40 percent of American children will spend some time in a cohabiting household, either because they are born into such a household or because one of their parents cohabits after a breakup. Faced with this reality, many journalists, scholars, and advocates are tempted to minimize the differences between married and cohabiting fathers and families.

But the reality is that, on average, cohabiting fathers do not compare with married fathers. As Sandra Hofferth of the University of Maryland and Kermyt Anderson of the University of Oklahoma found in a recent study, married fathers are significantly more involved and affectionate with their children than are cohabiting fathers. In fact, from their research, they conclude “that marriage per se confers advantage in terms of father involvement above and beyond the characteristics of the fathers themselves.”

Married fathers are also much more likely than their cohabiting peers to stick around. One recent study by Wendy Manning at Bowling Green State and Pamela Smock at the University of Michigan found that 50 percent of children born to cohabiting parents saw their parents break up by age five; by comparison, only 15 percent of children born to married parents saw their parents divorce by age five. Dad is much more likely to stick around if he has a wedding ring on his finger.

This is because, for men, marriage and fatherhood are a “package deal,” as sociologists Frank Frustenberg and Andrew Cherlin observed a number of years ago. By force of law and custom, marriage binds men to their families and gives them a recognizable role to play in the lives of their children. Try as they might, unmarried men typically find it difficult to be a consistent and positive force in the lives of their children.

4. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Every couple of years, some journalist seeks to revive the myth of the good divorce — often to excuse his or her own bad behavior. Sandra Tsing Loh is Exhibit A this week. In the most recent issue of The Atlantic, she spends several thousand words trying to justify her divorce from her husband of 20 years — a man she admits is a “good man” and “loving father” — under the cover of a sprawling, incoherent, and frankly disturbing review of five books on marriage and family life. (Among other things, the reader is regaled with all too much information about Loh’s private life; we learn, for instance, that one reason she ended up divorced is that she could not replace the “romantic memory of my fellow [adulterous] transgressor with the more suitable image of my husband.”)

Loh claims that her children appear to be doing just fine. Her two school-age girls — aged 7 and 9 — appear to be “unfazed” and “relatively content” in the midst of their parents’ divorce. Who knew divorce could be so easy on the kids?

In reality, Loh is probably deluding herself. The best social science presents a rather different picture than the rosy one Loh is trying to paint. According to research by Sara McLanahan of Princeton University and Paul Amato of Penn State, girls whose parents divorce are about twice as likely to drop out of high school, to become pregnant as teenagers, and to suffer from psychological problems such as depression and thoughts of suicide. Girls whose parents divorce are also much more likely to divorce later in life.

Moreover, studies indicate that children experience the most harm when their parents divorce after living together in a low-conflict marriage for many years (as Loh appears to have done). Why? These divorces come as the most surprising ones to children who thought that their parents had a good-enough marriage.

Though Loh manages to find for her Atlantic piece a bunch of well-educated friends who are also entertaining thoughts of divorce, she is (fortunately) in increasingly rare company. The work of sociologist Steven Martin indicates that since 1980, college-educated Americans have grown less tolerant of divorce, and the divorce rate among this cohort has fallen off sharply. Thus, well-educated readers of The Atlantic are unlikely to take Loh’s misleading and self-serving essay to heart.

5. DADS ARE DISPENSABLE
The final myth propagated by journalists in connection with fatherhood these days is the myth of the dispensable father. Often conjured up in glowing profiles of women who have become single mothers by choice, this myth holds that fathers do not play a central role in children’s lives.

This myth fails to take into account the now-vast social scientific literature (discussed above) showing that children typically do better in an intact, married families with their fathers than they do in families headed by single mothers.

It also overlooks the growing body of research indicating that fathers bring distinctive talents to the parenting enterprise. The work of psychologist Ross Parke, for instance, indicates that fathers are more likely than mothers to engage their children in vigorous physical play (e.g., roughhousing), to challenge their children — including their daughters — to embrace life’s challenges, and to be firm disciplinarians.

Not surprisingly, children benefit from being exposed to the distinctive paternal style. Sociologist David Eggebeen has shown, for instance, that teenagers are significantly less likely to suffer from depression and delinquency when they have involved and affectionate fathers, even after controlling for the quality of their relationship with their mother. In his words, “What these analyses clearly show is that mothers and fathers both make vital contributions to adolescent well-being.”

This is not to say that all journalists get it wrong when it comes to making sense of contemporary fatherhood and family life. This week, for instance, Sue Shellenberger at the Wall Street Journal had a great piece discussing the ways in which mothers serve as gatekeepers for fathers to their children; she also encourages mothers to allow fathers to engage children with their own distinctive style of parenting. Likewise, Linda Carroll at MSNBC has written an incisive story showing that involved and affectionate fathers play a crucial role in steering their daughters away from early sexual activity; in fact, it turns out that dads are more important than moms in protecting their teenage daughters from early sex.

In the coming years, we will need more tough-minded and honest journalism like the kind offered by Shellenberger and Carroll. This is particularly true because the cultural and economic storms of late — e.g., the individualistic turn of contemporary life and the recession — have been eroding the marital foundations of family life in America. Given the social scientific record on fatherhood, marriage, and family life, the United States could use more journalists who are willing to confront hard truths about the roles that fathers and marriage play in advancing the welfare of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, our children, and the cultural, economic, and legal forces that are now undercutting marriage and fatherhood in America. National Review OnLine

— W. Bradford Wilcox is a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia and a senior fellow at the Institute for American Values.

Siebenaler brothers to mark 50 years each in the priesthood; younger brother has two more years to wait for his 50th

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Between them, the Revs. Martin and Leonard Siebenaler have spent a century in priesthood. Ordained as part of St. Paul Seminary's Class of 1959, they will be honored next weekend at a pair of masses -- one in their honor and one of their own making.

Their kid brother, the Rev. John Siebenaler, also will take part in the festivities, but the "youngster" isn't old enough to reach his golden anniversary yet. He's been a priest for only 48 years.

"He's got to wait a couple of years," Father Leonard said.

The older Siebenalers will start things off June 28 by concelebrating the 8:30 a.m. mass at their boyhood church, St. Mary's in New Trier. They grew up on a farm near the small town in southern Dakota County.

That mass "is not officially part of the anniversary celebration," Father Leonard said. They organized it on their own as a fitting way to kick off the day.

At 1:30 p.m., they will be joined by their brother for a mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 2035 W. 15th St., Hastings. A reception will follow.

At 76, Father Martin is a year older than Father Leonard. There were so few kids in town that they ended up in a combined class at school, which is why they have the same graduation date.

"We get asked a lot if we're twins," Father Leonard said. "I don't think we look all that much alike."

They attended Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary before enrolling in what was known then as the St. Paul Major Seminary. Having a brother in the class provided a built-in support group. Even after they were ordained, they regularly compared notes about life at their respective parishes.

Sibling rivalry? "On the golf course," Father Leonard said, "but never about our work."

Father Martin served at parishes in Minneapolis (Visitation and Saints Cyril and Methodius), St. Paul (St. Agnes), Loretto (Saints Peter and Paul) and Waconia (St. Joseph's). He's retired and living in Hastings.

Father Leonard served in Minneapolis (St. Anne's), St. Paul (St. Columba), White Bear Lake (St. Mary's of the Lake), Zumbrota (St. Paul's), St. Louis Park (Most Holy Trinity) and St. Michael (St. Michael's), where he still helps out, even though he has officially retired. He lives in Cannon Falls, Minn. Star Tribune

Statement of Archbishop John Nienstedt upon the death of Father Tim Vakoc (Major)

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All of us in this Catholic Archdiocese are grieving with the family of Father Vakoc, who died last night after surviving terrible wounds in the Iraq War five long years ago. We are joined in that grieving, to be sure, by the men and woman whom he served as chaplain in Iraq and those of who witnessed his extraordinary courage and faith at Walter Reed Hospital and here at our Veteran’s Hospital. A man of peace, he chose to endure the horror of war in order to bring the peace of Christ to America’s fighting men and women. He has been an inspiration to us all and we will miss him. We ask everyone to remember him in prayer.

Father Tim Vakoc, R.I.P.

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Father Timothy Vakoc, a Minnesota Army chaplain who was seriously injured in Iraq in 2004, died June 20, according to an entry on his CaringBridge Web site. No cause of death was given, and funeral arrangements are still pending.

Father Vakoc, 49, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, had been living at the St. Therese of New Hope nursing facility in New Hope. He lost an eye and sustained brain damage when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee on May 29, 2004, as he was returning to his barracks after celebrating Mass for U.S. soldiers.

In recent years, he had been showing signs of physical and cognitive improvement.

A June 11 entry on Father Vakoc’s CaringBridge site noted that he participated with family and friends in a special Mass June 10 celebrating the 17th anniversary of his ordination, five years of post-accident life and appreciation for all those who were contributing to his care.

It said members of the Franciscans Brothers of Peace were praying regularly with Father Vakoc (pronounced VAH-kitch), who followed along in a prayer book and mouthed the words.

“His attention to the prayers and singing is a sign that his comprehension is deepening, and that he is picking up on more things happening around him,” the entry said. “Another sign of expanding comprehension is his participation in the Bible study held at the nursing home.”

Father Vakoc received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He also received the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus Award from St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity and the Combat Action Badge in 2007, which is awarded to soldiers actively engaged in a hostile action by the enemy in a combat zone or imminent danger area. Catholic Spirit


Stella Borealis articles on Father Tim Vakoc

Today is the 16th Anniversary of the Ordination of Army Chaplain Father Tim Vakoc May 30, 2008

Exhibition Honoring Father Tim Vakoc, Wounded Iraq War Army Chaplain August 24, 2007

Celebration for Father Tim Vakoc, St Therese's, New Hope, Sunday, June 10, 2007

St Paul Seminary Honors War-Wounded Priest, KARE-11, April 27, 2007

Chaplain injured in Iraq to receive seminary's Distinguished Alumnus Award today, St Thomas Bulletin, April 26, 2007

"A Prayer for Father Tim", StarTribune, Slide Show with Narration, December 15, 2006

"A Prayer for Father Tim", StarTribune, Article, December 15, 2006

Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord,

And let Perpetual Light shine upon him,

May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed,

Through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.

Amen.

Latin? We're getting more Latin.

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A year ago or so, I wrote the following in a comment to a post I had made listing all of the Spanish language Masses that were being celebrated in the archdiocese:

Well, There are 220 parishes in our archdiocese. The vast majority of the people don't know anything about Spanish. What will Spanish-speaking Catholics do if we stop offering the Mass in Spanish?

The Church is universal. Besides English, Spanish and Latin, the Mass is also offered here in Vietnamese, Korean, Hmong, Polish and in American Sign Language.

Why can't those who want the Mass in Latin be able to do so?

Latin is beginning to expand in our archdiocese after Pope Benedict issued his Motu Proprio (personal permission) for any priest to be able to celebrated the Mass according to the form of the 1962 Roman Missal, now referred to as the Extraordinary Form (EF). The Novus Ordo English language Mass with which we are all familiar is referred to as the Ordinary Form of the Mass (OF). Permission of the bishop is not needed, but the priest must have some competence (not necessarily fluency) in Latin.

The Latin Masses currently being offered here are all being celebrated by the priest ad orientem, that is with the priest facing the crucifix and the tabernacle.

Prior to 2009, the EF Mass was authorized here by indult (special permission) only at St. Augustine’s in South St. Paul. Father J.P. Echert, pastor at St. Augustine’s and also Holy Trinity in that city, has expanded his Latin Masses to seven days a week:

St Augustine, S St Paul: 11:30 a.m. Sundays; also Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 a.m.; 7:30 p.m. on First Fridays and Holy Days of Obligation and First Saturdays at 10:00 a.m.

Holy Trinity, S St Paul: Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:15 p.m. and Fridays (except First Fridays) at Noon

St. Agnes in St. Paul for many years has celebrated a Novus Ordo Latin Mass during the school year with the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale and musicians from the Minnesota Orchestra and the voices of the St. Agnes Schola at their 10:00 Sunday Mass. During the Summer, only the Schola is at the Mass.

A few months ago, Father John Ubel, pastor of St. Agnes, began to celebrate Latin Masses in accordance with the following schedule:

OF Masses:

Saturday - Gregorian Chant Responses by the Congregation

St Agnes, St Paul: 8:00 a.m.

St Agnes, St Paul: 5:15 p.m., Solemn High Mass every First Saturday; a capella Chamber Choir sings polyphonic (Renaissance) Masses

Sunday

St Agnes, St Paul: Second and Fourth Sundays 10:00 a.m., Symphonic with Chorus or Schola alone; see schedule

EF Masses

St Agnes, St Paul: First, Third and Fifth Sundays 10:00 a.m., Symphonic with Chorus and/or Schola alone; see schedule

If you had a map, you would quickly note that these locations are at the extreme eastern side of the archdiocese. Hundreds of people drive a long way to get to the Latin Masses at St. Agnes, St. Augustine’s and Holy Trinity. Many come from Wisconsin and from communities such as Rochester, far outside of the archdiocese.

When gasoline was 90 cents a gallon (I won’t tell you how cheap it was when I was a lad) the travel time was the biggest problem for those Mass commuters. But now that it is approaching three dollars again, this gets to be a financial drain on some of these commuting families, many of whom bring a raft of [extremely well-behaved] children with them.

For a short time in Hennepin County an EF Mass was offered this past year in the Delano-Corcoran area.

But it has creased with the news that Father Bryan Pedersen, formerly assistant to Fr. Echert in South St. Paul was given his own parish, Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale and is now offering a Low Mass (without musical accompaniment as of yet, building it “brick by brick”) each Sunday. That could save twenty miles of driving from many living on the west side of the archdiocese.

• Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale: 11:30 a.m. Sundays, Low Mass (no music)

On Saturday mornings in Northeast Minneapolis, Father Glen Solem, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua7:30 and a Marian Mass at 8:30. Father celebrates the Mass according to the Novus Ordo missal, but he is working on his Latin and says some of the Mass prayers like the Confiteor at the beginning, the Eucharistic Prayers at the Consecration and those prayers which call for Latin responses from the congregation. The readings are done in English. On the First Saturday of each month, the Mass is accompanied by a schola with Gregorian Chant accompaniment. The congregation sings the Latin responses along with the schola. parish offers a Holy Hour at

• St Anthony of Padua, Mpls: 7:30 a.m. Holy Hour 8:30 a.m. Marian Mass

Rome wasn’t built in a day, they say, or at least they used to say that. If you would like to see more Latin, don’t expect to see it as frequently as you will be seeing Spanish in the Mass. But I would imagine that as time passes, more priests will begin to offer it in the archdiocese.

In orthodox “cafeteria Catholicism” Latin will become just another option like charismatic Masses, like the Spanish and other language Masses, contemporary music Masses, childrens’ Masses and, for those that think they can't sing, music-less Masses..

Struggling with the Rosary

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The Rosary is excruciating. There I said it. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it was the most perfect prayer because it takes 19 minutes, which is the maximum time the average person can maintain a state of concentration. The truth is the Rosary can be a real chore. St. Thérèse, the Little Flower, was being more honest when she said, “I am ashamed to confess it, but the recitation of the Rosary costs me more than to use an instrument of penance. I feel I am saying it so badly. Try as I may to make myself meditate on the mysteries, I never manage to fix my thoughts on them." Amen sister. I’m with you. And yet, like St. Thérèse, I wouldn’t give up the Rosary for anything.

I’ll admit I’m not always perfect about making it my top priority. I’ve often flopped into bed late at night only to realize I hadn’t done it yet. I groan as I slide out from the sheets and reach for my beads on the nightstand. Those next 19 minutes are a far cry from the “perfect prayer” Archbishop Sheen described. I can barely keep my eyes opened much less my mind focused. To be honest, it’s not much easier when I’m wide awake. I stink at contemplating the mysteries. The best I can manage is to visualize a picture from one of my Rosary booklets or a scene from The Passion of the Christ. Distractions? Don’t get me started. On my way home from work, I’m bombarded with thoughts of everything but the mysteries. “The third joyful mystery is the… now what was it I was supposed to pick up from the grocery store… Was that my 9th Hail Mary or my 10th? Oh man, I just ran a red light! Sorry Mary.”

So why do I persist if it’s such drudgery? Simple. I wouldn’t be where I am today had it not been for Mary’s intercession. This is my story. Since the age of 11, I was addicted to pornography. It began simple enough with sneaking peaks at my best friend’s father’s Playboys in the basement of his house. But by the time I was 25, I was so hooked on Internet porn that I would itch for my wife to leave the apartment so I could secretly jump online. Several times over the years I tried to quit. Each time, not only did I fail, but the addiction got worse to the point where I gave up resisting.

Then a friend of mine, who knew nothing of my addiction, loaned me a book on Mary and her supposed apparitions in Međugorje. I’m undecided about whether those apparitions are real. I’ll leave that to the Church to decide. However, I can tell you what is real. That book was what finally led me out of my addiction. It was as if Mary reached up from the pages and grabbed me by the collar. I felt her say to me sternly, “Brian you’ve got to stop looking at that garbage. Starting now!” My earthly mother hardly ever scolded me when I was younger. I was always the “good son.” But here I was at age 30 getting chastised by my Blessed Mother in a way I had never experienced. “What do you want me to do?” I asked helplessly. I turned the page. Pray the Rosary and wear the Scapular. I groaned. “Rosary? I’ve tried that before. It’s boring. It doesn’t work for me.” But Mary wouldn’t take no. “Try it again,” she insisted. What about this scapular thing? I had no idea what a scapular was. I thought it had something to do with shaving your head like the monks of the Middle Ages. (I had confused the “scap” in scapular for “scalp”, as in head.) “I’m not shaving my head Mary.” I read on and embarrassingly realized my mistake. “Oh. OK. I can wear that.”

That night I went online and ordered a Brown Scapular, and then I went to my bedroom dresser and pulled out my grandmom’s old rosary. It had been in there for years, nothing more than an heirloom. I got on my knees, and I began to pray. The next night, I did it again. Two nights in a row became three, then four, until before I knew it I had prayed the Rosary every night for a week. Well it’s been 7 years, and I’m still going strong. I can count on two hands the total number of times I’ve missed.

OK so I pray the Rosary and I kicked a nasty porn habit. Ho hum. Big deal you think. Yes it is, because I should explain that when I say the addiction went away, I don’t mean gradually. I mean it vanished that first night. It was like someone reached inside my brain, found the switch for porn addiction, and turned it off. I can’t explain it. I’m not a sex therapist, but I know that’s not supposed to happen. You don’t just put down a 19-year porn addiction like yesterday’s newspaper and walk away from it. A lot of it has to do with a hormone called epinephrine that’s released in the brain each time you view pornography. It produces a high similar to cocaine. Epinephrine is the gift that keeps on giving because it has a nasty side effect of burning the images into your brain. That’s why even when I was in my late twenties I could still see those images from when I was eleven as if it were yesterday. And now they’re gone.

That brings me back to why I pray the Rosary daily, and why I think everyone should too. It’s because of who made the request. Mary is our Blessed Mother, and she’s asked us to do this. If she wants us to pray the Rosary, it doesn’t matter if we don’t “get” anything out of it, and it doesn’t matter if we don’t understand how it “works”. The only thing that matters is that Mary is the one who asked. She says she needs our help, and the way we can help her is to pray Rosaries. Let her worry about the mechanics. Did the servants at the wedding at Cana need to understand how Jesus was going to solve the wine shortage? No, they just needed to follow Mary’s advice. I hope Mary doesn’t mind if I borrow her line and say when it comes to praying the Rosary, “Do whatever she tells you.” GodSpy

I'm not very good at praying the Rosary. If I do it a couple times a week, I consider that a victory. I might have done it five times one week ---- once. Paraphrasing, "All generations shall call HER Blessed." I think I should work a little, no, a lot harder at it.

What’s Behind the New Interest in Confession?

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Is the present increase in the popularity of the confession of sins a step toward a realistic religiosity, or is it the popularity of the penitential rite of the American Church of Christ without Christ?

Confession of sins is making a comeback. Catholics, other-Christians, non-Christians, and even non-believers are reported to be embracing the practice in traditional and non-traditional ways.

As a Catholic priest who hears confessions, and as a sinner who needs it, I welcome the new interest in the forgiveness of sins as an opportunity for spiritual growth. Indeed, the roots of the urge to confess our sins lie deep in the human heart. I believe that the impulse to confess deeds that weigh on our conscience can be a healthy affirmation of ties that bind us all. This experience of solidarity is the beginning of that sense of social responsibility upon which our survival depends. From this point of view, the reported popularity of confession is a welcome development. However, this is only a beginning.

The question immediately surfaces: if our sins really damage the ties that bind us, can the practice of confession really repair them, or is confession only a way to overcome the pain of guilt? In that case, a ritualistic confession can become a way to escape the responsibility of dealing with the real harm done to others and to ourselves by our actions.

The key to a healthy understanding of the value of confession lies in the recognition of the real, objective social nature of the drama of sin and forgiveness. This recognition has always been part of the traditional ritual practice of confession, even after the “one-on-one” encounter between the penitent and the confessor replaced ceremonies that included a public recognition and confession of certain sins. And although the absolution from sins is indeed a personal judgment based on the authority of the individual priest, the ritual includes a prayer that the penitent be granted pardon and peace “through the ministry of the Church.”

Forgiveness is not conditional. All that is required is for the sinner to accept the divine mercy unconditionally offered to him. The power of God’s mercy builds our defense, so to speak, on our acknowledgment of the truth of His love and our inability to respond to it. The rite of confession is an acknowledgment by the Church of the objectivity of God’s mercy. To “go to confession” means to join the Church in the celebration of this truth.

I wonder: does the recent surge in the practice of confession reflect growth in this awareness of the truth about God and our freedom? Instead, could it not be the opposite–namely, another example of how an emotional religiosity dilutes the truly dramatic nature of the capacity of human freedom to build and destroy?

Religiosity is the affirmation that there is an ultimate purpose or meaning to the universe, and that our origin and destiny are related to this mystery. We can think of “religion” as the systematic attempts to express our religiosity. Religious experiences are well documented in comparative religion, and it is amazing how similar they are from religion to religion. All of them originate with the experience of a presence whose origin is radically otherworldly. Some argue that this otherworldly presence is an illusion, that the religious experience is a pathological projection of an inner psychological conflict or the result of scientific ignorance. Whatever be the case, it is the conviction of the real existence of such a mysterious presence that defines the experience as religious. The religious person struggles to discover the secrets hidden behind that presence, to see the “true face” of the Mystery.

Contemporary American religiosity, however, has come up with religious experiences that are “content-free,” so to speak. The identity and nature of the otherworldly presence is no longer decisive. What matters instead is the subjective, psychological experience, whatever its origin. Each one has his or her “God,” or “Jesus,” or whatever. As a friend describes it, “In America, it is easier to say, ‘Jesus,’ than to say, ‘I am me.’”

At the origin of this development is the separation between religion and reason, a separation already present in much of traditional American Christianity. When this happens, the affirmations of faith can no longer be verified as reasonable. What matters are its subjective emotional consequences. The origin of the religious experience becomes irrelevant. Such is the religiosity in the American “Church of Christ Without Christ,” recognized by Flannery O’Connor in Wise Blood. GodSpy - Traces

Why Prop 8 Won: TV Commercials Based on Reason, not Fear

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To understand why Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned gay marriage, won in California, watch the campaign’s TV commercials at the What Is Prop 8? website. Not only were they well-made, featuring a multi-ethnic cross-section of very normal, quasi-hip, young to middle-age Californians, the commercials were models of serious, rational political argument. While anti-Prop 8 commercials resorted to showing Mormon missionaries conducting Gestapo-like home invasions of same-sex households, the “Yes on 8” commercials went out of their way to calmly explain both sides of the debate, and present gays and lesbians in a positive light. When was the last time you saw that in American politics? How about never.

The commercial I featured here isn’t typical, but it caught my attention because it’s so amazingly emo (the music is great). It also takes the time to clarify what tolerance really means, and that opposition to gay marriage has nothing to do with hatred or bigotry towards gays and lesbians (or even about rights, since domestic partnerships in California confer all the rights of marriage). The issue is about preserving society’s right to say that there is a transcendent purpose to marriage, based on the objective reality that through the complementary sexual union of human persons created male and female, life and families are created.

The TV ads convincingly argue that society can’t be neutral on marriage. Either marriage is transcendent--built into reality--or it’s not. It’s one vision or the other. Whichever vision prevails, is the norm for all, enforced in schools, in the workplace, in the public square.

If that’s so, is it fair for the particular views of the 4 percent of society that identify as gay to prevail over the 96% who aren’t gay? Does that make sense? Is that what’s best for the common good? I wonder whether even a majority of gays believes that would be wise. Elton John is one high profile gay man who says he doesn’t need marriage; he‘s perfectly happy with civil unions. I’m sure there are more.

What’s shocking is how utterly intolerant the liberal establishment is towards mainstream America on this issue. State after state has passed gay marriage bans, and still, there is not one liberal who will publicly allow for the possibility that opposition to gay marriage can be motivated by anything other than hatred, bigotry or ignorance.

The worst example of this intolerance was the embarrassing six-minute video rant delivered after the election by the insufferably cloying Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. You can watch it here, but be warned: it’s irrational. smug, stupid, insulting and nauseating. The man is a moron. I’m very anti-war and pro-social justice, but give me Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter before Olbermann any day. Based on that video alone, he deserves to receive the label he so smugly awards to others on his show: “The worst person in the world.”

Olbermann is what Flannery O’Connor had in mind when she warned of tenderness leading to the Gulag. GodSpy

Annus Sacerdotalis 19 Giugno 2009 - 11 Giugno 2010 - The Year of the Priest

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Annus Sacerdotalis

Dear St Joseph pray with us that families of those called to the priesthood will be as loving and supportive as you were to the Son of God

[What is the significance of that prayer? Well, besides being a moving prayer in its own right, it is 138 characters long!] Those of you who Tweet on Twitter can find more of them HERE.

Breakaway Catholic group to ordain 13 in Minnesota

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A breakaway Catholic group in Minnesota plans to ordain 13 priests on Friday, but they won't be recognized by the Roman Catholic church.

The St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, which is part of the Society of St. Pius X, will host the ordinations, the seminary announced on its Web site. It says Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais will ordain the priests.

The Vatican said Wednesday that any ordinations by the ultraconservative group won't be legitimate, even though Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the organization's leaders in a bid to bring the dissidents back into the church. The Vatican issued the statement in response to planned ordinations in Germany later this month, reiterating that the society still has no status within the Catholic church and that its clergy do not legitimately exercise any ministry.

Rose Hammes, spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona, said the men being ordained by the society on Friday would not be eligible to serve as priests in any Roman Catholic diocese.

"We follow what the Vatican is telling us and they're telling us that all of the ordinations are illegitimate," Hammes said.

The Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X is led by Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of the four bishops whose excommunications were lifted.

Reached at the Winona seminary on Thursday, he said Friday's ordinations are "absolutely not" intended as a challenge to Rome. He said the society has always considered itself part of the Catholic church, and that the planned ordinations are a normal part of the society's life.

Fellay said he viewed the Vatican's statement as a "mild" response to society members in Germany. He said he believes the Germans are indeed trying to provoke the Holy See, questioning why the Germans would try to impede reconciliation "particularly when the pope makes such a kind gesture to us." Society officials there plan to ordain three priests and three bishops in southern Germany on June 27.

Hammes said that "as a general rule" the Winona diocese keeps a distance from the seminary, although retired Bishop Bernard Harrington met with officials there several times.

"The conversations were friendly but realizing the St. Pius the Tenth group was not willing to move into full communion with the church there really wasn't anything more we could do," she said.

In 1988, the Vatican excommunicated the society's four bishops after they were consecrated without papal consent by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who founded the society in 1969 in opposition to the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

Benedict's lifting of the excommunications sparked outrage among Jews and Roman Catholics since one of the prelates, Bishop Richard Williamson, had denied the Holocaust. Williamson taught at the southeastern Minnesota seminary for 15 years.

Hammes acknowledged that the rollback of the excommunications had created confusion about the status of the four bishops. She said that even though their excommunications were lifted, they are still not considered bishops in the Roman Catholic church. Star Tribune

More SSPX men in black in Winona?

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Cue the fortune-tellers, the crystal ball readers, the Vatican nuance-gifted and impaired.

Unless there is a last minute stay of ordination, the Society of St. Pius X plans to make 13 men priests this morning at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, Minnesota — raising the possibility of more controversy and overt or covert conflict with the Vatican (again).

And, of course, there are divergent views not only on how to understand what the Vatican has said so far, but on what this means for the relationship between the Catholic Church and the traditionalist body going forward. For an interesting summary of how the projected ordinations have been roiling European Catholic leaders, particularly German ones, read this story from The Catholic Herald Online.

What’s intriguing about this story is the prediction of the diocesan spokesman that the ordinations will result in excommunication — or would that be re-excommunication? Or, because, the excommunications were lifted, but there are still, as they say “issues” between the SSPX and the Vatican, would a fullscale excommunication be necessary? And what makes the Regensburg spokesman almost certain that excommunication would result — at any rate, we know this isn’t just a Schotz in the dark (sorry, I couldn’t resist). . . .

The Guardian has apparently already judged and tried both Pope Benedict and the SSPX. Judging by this genre of story, the Catholic Church is in a constant state of “crisis.”

The pugilistic headline of Jeff Israely’s article in Time: “Pope Benedict vs. the Lefebvrites: Round Two,” hides a rather nice analysis. . . .

But why then the apparent silence, or public silence, from American bishops? Have you seen anything in the media to date from a bishop in Minnesota or Kansas? Given that ordinations are occuring in Minnesota, it is obviously not just a problem for European bishops. . . . Get Religion

Eastern Rite Parishes and the Middle East

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Many of us have probably not thought much about the phrase in the Apostles Creed which refers to the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." Many may think that what is meant by the word "catholic" is the Roman Catholic Church, headed by Pope Benedict XVI and based in the Vatican City State. Actually, "catholic" comes from the Greek work meaning "universal."

There are actually 22 churches within the Catholic Church, all swearing allegiance to the Pope in Rome. But they have their own Patriarchs as their head, their own canon law, their own languages and their own ordination processes. They are often referred to as the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church and the Church in Rome is referred to as the Latin Rite.

There are five Eastern Rite Catholic Churches located within the area of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: The Byzantine Church of St. John in Minneapolis, (of the Byzantine Eparchy of Peoria, Illinois); St. Maron in Minneapolis and Holy Family in St. Paul of the Maronite Catholic Church (based in Lebanon); and St. Constantine in Minneapolis and St. Stephen in St. Paul of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

These parishes are often included in archdiocesan events. In the recent Corpus Christi procession in Northeast Minneapolis, St. Maron and St. Constantine were among the seven parishes that were on the procession route and St. Maron's hosted the hospitality reception after the event.

It is permitted for Roman Catholics to attend a Mass in an Eastern Rite parish. You might want to do a little research before you do go as their liturgies are much different and sometimes much longer than those of the Roman Catholic Church.

Last month, Monsignor Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron's, was interviewed by Father Mitch Pacwa on his EWTN Live program (airing on Wednesday nights 8:00 p.m.; I don't know how I missed it; I watch EWTN almost exclusively when I'm not staring at a monitor).

Msgr. Maroun is the president of Telelumiere USA, part of an organization that broadcasts to the Middle East and around the world in Arabic and other languages bring their message love, hope and reconciliation. There are 400 milliion people in the Middle East who speak Arabic.

St. Maron's website, has a seven part video of Msgr. Maroon's interview.

Telelumiere ("TV of Light") and Noursat "light satellite" have a webpage in which you might also be interested. There is some history Here. [DAF News]