Philadelphia Chapter

Professor Speaks of a Conference to Celebrate Papal Documents Backing Church’s Official Language

By Salvatore Cernuzio

ROME, FEB. 9, 2012 (Zenit.org).- On Feb. 22, 1962, Pope John XXIII signed the apostolic constitution “Veterum Sapientia,” on the study and use of Latin, as a result of which he hoped, among other things, that an Academicum Latinitatis Institutum would be created.

The institute was founded later by Pope Paul VI with the apostolic letter “Studia Latinitatis” of Feb. 22, 1964, entrusting the Salesians with the task of “promoting its prosperity.”

Half a century later the Pontificium Institutum Altioris Latinitatis is organizing a conference to be held Feb. 23, titled “Veterum Sapientia: History, Culture and Timeliness.” The congress will examine some important episodes in the history of the institute and will also consider the challenges today regarding the study of classical languages.

ZENIT spoke with Father Roberto Spataro, a teacher in the Faculty of Christian and Classical Literature of the Pontifical Salesian University, about the forthcoming congress.

ZENIT: Professor Spataro, how did the idea for this conference come about and what are its objectives?

Father Spataro: The congress is being held on the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of a solemn document, the Veterum Sapientia, unfortunately quickly, unjustly forgotten.

We intend to re-visit that document and to show how it is still very timely in proposing the need that in the Church, especially among priests, that the great ethical, spiritual and religious values be known that the ancient world developed and that Christianity perfected, thus constructing the foundations of contemporary civilization.

ZENIT: Many believe that Latin is a “dead language.” What is your opinion?

Father Spataro: This is truly an unfortunate expression. I wonder how a language can be defined as dead in which Seneca, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and generations of scientists, from Galvani, inventor of electricity, to Gauss, the “prince of mathematicians,” wrote.

How can one hold as “dead” a language that is studied today by so many persons, and nourishes lofty and noble thoughts? Not forgetting that it is the language of the Holy See and that the liturgy in Latin attracts in ever increasing numbers the faithful, many of them young people.

ZENIT: In recent times, instead, it seemed that Latin was dying out: Seminarians did not study it any longer and it was not used in the liturgy. What is your Institute doing about this situation?

Father Spataro: In recent years, tentative beginnings have taken place within the Catholic Church in terms of renewed interest in the study of Latin. Among these are the birth of new religious communities and lay movements that have understood well how a most precious patrimony belongs to the Tradition, to the life itself of the Church, of liturgical, canonical, magisterial, theological expressions whose content is comprehensible only in its linguistic form, namely, Latin. Hence, our Institute wishes to teach a greater number of clerics and lay people to be able to appreciate this patrimony, so that every Church is able to have access to people who love the way in which truth, beauty and harmony are united in this language.

ZENIT: It seems that in many parts of the world there is a renewal of interest in Latin. Is this true?

Father Spataro: It is true! Some time ago, a distinguished German university professor told me that in Germany there are more than 800,000 students in high schools and university institutes who study Latin. In our Institute, for example, we receive students from China, sent by their Universities, because they feel the need to know European civilization and its cultural origins expressed in Latin.

ZENIT: What are the reasons for this renewed interest?

Father Spataro: Talking with professors and students from all over the world, I have come to believe that there is a desire to study Latin so as to access a world, a res publica litterarum, of a very high spiritual level. The present economic and financial crisis is no more serious than the ethical and the anthropological. Young people in so many parts of the world study works written in Latin, from Cicero to Cyprian to Erasmus of Rotterdam, and are tired and disappointed by “bad teachers” of the contemporary age, and want to acquire for themselves pure, true thought. The study of Latin makes it possible to reacquire this “spiritual innocence.”

ZENIT: Even in Italian Middle Schools there is a return to the study of Latin.

Father Spataro: Latin is a very pleasing language to learn, with one condition: that the method is abandoned that morbidly reigns in schools, imposed by a German philology beginning in the 19th century. If taught, instead, with methods of the great humanists — for example, that which was practiced for centuries in the Jesuits’ schools, or the “nature-method” taught in 150 hours — a student, without excessive toil and especially without boredom, is already able to read the classics. There is need of a new generation of teachers that know this method and adopt it enthusiastically because it works miracles!

ZENIT: Are there examples of the success of this method?

Father Spataro: Certainly! An example is the Vivarum Novum Academy, an institution with which our Faculty has collaborated for some time and that operates in Rome. Young people from all over the world go there, for one or two years, to study Latin and Greek. They arrive without knowing a single word of the language of Caesar or Plato and after a few months they are able to speak fluently in Latin, acquiring at the end of the course a true knowledge of the humanistic civilization, that is, of the genuine values of man that come from the Veterum Sapientia.

[Translation by ZENIT]

First Friday Confessions, February 3rd, A.D. 2012, will be heard at 6:30 p.m. followed by 7 p.m.. TLM offered by Fr. Gerald Carey of St. Paul’s Parish.

First Saturday Confessions, February 4, A.D. 2012, will be heard at 8:45 a.m. followed by 9:15 a.m. TLM offered by Fr. Dominick Finn, O.S.F.S., at St. Albert the Great Rectory Chapel, whose schedule requires that he be fifteen (15) minutes behind our normal First Saturday schedule.

It may be noteworthy to the readers of the Latin Liturgy Association Philadelphia Chapter website to learn that the First Friday and First Saturday TLM’s at St. Albert The Great Parish, Huntingdon Valley, Pa. are the only continuously scheduled, canonically regular, First Fri. & First Sat. TLM’s offered in the entire Archdiocese of Philadelphia. There are no others known to me within the Archdiocese; (with well-wishes to other distant locations, Mater Ecclesiae is in the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, and the SSPX, in Eddystone, and Rome are attempting to resolve the Society’s canonical status).

Thank you for publicizing these First Friday and First Saturday TLM’s at St. Albert The Great Parish, 212 Welsh Road, Huntingdon Valley, Montgomery County, Pa. 19006 (T) 215-947-3500.

Mark Matthews
Advisory Council Committee Chairman

Posted by Rorate Caeli.

The International Federation Una Voce presents its objections
The International Federation Una Voce (FIUV) has learned that modifications of the 1962 Missale Romanum could be proposed by competent authority in the near future. It therefore presents its objections and concerns on a reform of the Traditional Missal to competent authority, also making its 2008 letter on the matter public.

The Revision of the Missal of 1962.

The Concerns of the International Federation Una Voce,

Preamble:
It is known that work has commenced in Rome on the revision of the Missal of 1962. As has been the norm in recent years, these matters are being conducted discreetly and only made public when the relevant document is promulgated, viz: Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae. The very narrow remit given by the Holy Father to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in his Letter to Accompany Summorum Pontificum [7 July, 2007] was that: “..new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal.” No other changes were sanctioned. Pope Benedict also stated that “The Ecclesia Dei Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the possibilities in this regard.”

Those who are “devoted to the usus antiquior” must continually and carefully ensure that this specific and narrow remit is not exceeded by those in Rome and elsewhere who desire to undermine the integrity of the Missal of 1962 by demanding the inclusion of some of the novelties which were introduced into the liturgy post-1962. The International Federation Una Voce was founded in early 1965, even before the Second Vatican Council had ended, and is by far the oldest organisation, lay or clerical, which is devoted to the usus antiquior. While other organisations and societies, clerical and lay, may also be devoted to the ‘usus antiquior’, none can match the 46 year history of the Una Voce Federation in its unswerving devotion to this cause. The Federation has played a unique role in being the first, and the continuous voice of the lay faithful in seeking adherence to the expressed wishes of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council as declared in Sacrosanctum Concilium n.4:
“Finally, in faithful obedience to tradition, the Sacred Council declares that Holy Mother Church holds all lawfully recognised rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way.”

The members of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce, being ever mindful of this decree of the Council Fathers, have been faithfully obedient to tradition, have consistently upheld the equal right and dignity of the Mass of Antiquity, and have striven since 1965 to preserve and foster this lawfully recognised rite. In his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, confirmed what the International Federation has always claimed, that the Missal of 1962 ‘was never juridically abrogated’. The Holy Father also confirmed in his letter that his decision was to bring about “an interior reconciliation in the heart of the church.”

Liturgical innovation and creativity is unwanted by the faithful and has consistently disturbed, angered and alienated them in the years following the Second Vatican Council. This must not happen again with the adulteration of the Missal of 1962. The International Federation accepts organic development but emphatically rejects liturgical innovation which is alien to the character, spirit, and integrity of the usus antiquior. The inestimable treasure of the ancient liturgy must not be undermined by novelty, reductionism, and destructive modernisation. Nothing describes the attraction of the usus antiquior more powerfully than the growing number of young Catholics world-wide, including many seminarians and young priests, who are discovering this ancient and deeply spiritual liturgy and are being captivated by it.

We are now entering a critical period in the life of the liturgy of Holy Mother Church. Decisions that are being taken in Rome today will have a lasting impact on the spiritual welfare of the faithful for generations. The need to implement the will of the Holy Father for a limited and organic change in harmony with the character of the Missal of 1962 must not be the excuse for the introduction into the traditional Roman liturgy of alien concepts that created so much disunity and disharmony in the years immediately following the Second Vatican Council.

Following the publication of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the President of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce presented a document to the Ecclesia Dei Commission in June 2008. Now that work on amending the Missal of 1962 has commenced, it may be timely to republish this document, in an updated form, to make clear, once again, the desires and aspirations of the members of the Una Voce Federation.

A Reflection on Summorum Pontificum and the Role of the
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei Prior to, and Post, September 2007.

Leo Darroch,
Executive President – International Federation Una Voce.

2 June 2008.

Since the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum in July 2007 there has been great rejoicing from those in the Catholic Church who wish to retain traditions, and protect Tradition. There is no doubt that the statement from Pope Benedict that the Missal of 1962 had never been abrogated, and the freedom he has granted to priests of the Roman Rite to celebrate this form of the Mass, has led to a great increase in the celebrations of the ancient and venerable rite. However, it is also clear that the promulgation of this Motu Proprio has led to many questions about the manner of celebration and the rubrics that apply to the Missal revised by Blessed John XXIII. It seems that there are some, including many bishops, who deliberately wish to create confusion and dissent in an attempt to dissuade priests and faithful from benefiting from the Holy Father’s pastoral solicitude, and insist that post-1962 developments (such as Communion in the hand, and female altar servers) are perfectly valid in Masses celebrated according to the Missal of 1962. On the other hand, there are others who have genuine queries about what is allowed during the celebration of the Extraordinary form of the Mass. Questions are being raised more or less on a daily basis and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei [PCED] is being inundated with letters containing requests for clarification; to such an extent that a document has been prepared that seeks to clarify matters once and for all. We have been advised to wait patiently for the publication of this document.

As I made clear in my Report to the PCED on 29th April 2008, I believe that Summorum Pontificum (and Quattuor Abhinc Annos [1984] and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta [1988] before it) should be interpreted according to the mind of the Legislator in his desire to redress, among other things, what many traditional Catholics believe to have been abuses of their legitimate aspirations. I believe those who seek to modify the directives of Summorum Pontificum to incorporate the changes post-1962 should be informed that they may freely avail themselves of the Novus Ordo in Latin where most of the various adaptations are already available, or can be adopted without any difficulty. The 1965 Ordo and the 1967 Missa Normativa were, by their own nature, only transitory and temporary stages and lost any particular significance once the 1969 edition of the Roman Missal was published by Pope Paul VI. There is, consequently, no sense in encouraging the adoption of elements of those ordos as somehow being natural and genuine evolutions of the 1962 Missal, which remains the only legitimate expression of the Extraordinary form of Roman Rite as defined by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Recently, there has been much publicity given to a letter that was issued by the PCED in 1997 and signed by the then President, Cardinal Felici, and by Monsignor Perl, the Secretary. This letter permits a number of modifications to celebrations of the Missal of 1962 concerning the Epistle, Gospel, Gloria, Credo, Pater Noster, and Prefaces from the appendix of the 1965 Missale Romanum and from that of 1970. They, therefore, are superseded by the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. For if the Supreme Pontiff wished prior liturgical provisions to be observed, he would have stated as much in his Motu Proprio of 7th July 2007.

In the midst of all this confusion there is, perhaps, a single question to be posed, the answer to which may make the responses to all the many queries irrelevant. But first it is necessary to set the scene.

The Holy Father, in Summorum Pontificum, could not have been clearer in stating what he means and meaning what he stated. He constantly refers to the Missal of 1962 OR the Missal of 1970. There is no ambiguity; it is a straight choice between one or the other. There is no in-between.

With the full authority of Peter, the Supreme Legislator stated “We Decree”. He then states that the Missal of Blessed John XXIII:
● “must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage” [Art.1];
● that the priest may use “the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 OR (my emphasis) the Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970” [Art.2];
● In parishes a pastor may “celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962” [Art. 5].

The only concession granted by Pope Benedict in the Motu Proprio itself is in Article 6 when he states: “In Masses celebrated in the presence of the people in accordance with the Missal of Blessed John XXIII, the readings MAY (my emphasis) be given in the vernacular, using editions recognised by the Apostolic See.”

Thus, the mind of Pope Benedict in the Motu Proprio is clear – it is either the Missal of 1970 OR the Missal of 1962. His Holiness remains true to this theme in his Letter to Bishops which accompanied the Motu Proprio. He states that, “the last version of the Missale Romanum prior to the Council…..in 1962 and used during the Council, will now be used as a Forma extraordinaria of the liturgical celebration.” He also states that, “There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal”, thus indicating, once again, that, while there is no contradiction, there is a distinct difference between the two Missals.

And now I come to the crux of my argument. An indult is a permission, or privilege, granted by the competent ecclesiastical authority – the Holy See or the local ordinaries as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case. Both Quattuor Abhinc Annos of 1984, and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of 1988, were granted on the widespread opinion that the Missal of 1962 had been abrogated – abolished – following the publication of the Missal of Pope Paul VI in 1970. The motives for Quattuor Abhinc Annos and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta would have been very different. Ecclesia Dei Adflicta (after the Commission of Cardinals had reported) may have been pro bono pacis, but this would not have applied to Quattuor Abhinc Annos.
[Note: A Commission of nine Cardinals was established Blessed Pope John Paul II in 1986 to determine whether the Missal of 1962 had been legally abrogated, or whether the bishops had the power to forbid the traditional Mass. The unanimous answer was ‘No’.]

In his Letter to Bishops Pope Benedict states:
“As for the use of the 1962 Missal …I would like to draw attention to the fact that this Missal was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted.

In Summorum Pontificum he repeats this with the full force of law and states:
“….It is therefore, permissible to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated (my emphasis) …………The conditions for the use of this Missal as laid down by earlier documents ‘Quattuor abhinc annos’ and ‘Ecclesia Dei’ are substituted as follows:”[Art.1]

In the case of both these indults they were substituted as from midnight on 13th September 2007 and ceased to have any force of law. They are redundant, obsolete.

The Pope has given us two clear statements: that the Missal of 1962 was never abrogated, and that the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum given Motu Proprio replaces the indults Quattuor Abhinc Annos and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta. All the various permissions and modifications granted by the PCED were granted during the periods of the indults. Logic dictates, therefore, that if the Missal of 1962 was never abolished and the Holy Father states that the conditions laid down in earlier documents [Quattuor Abhinc Annos and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta] for the use of the Missal of 1962 are substituted with effect from midnight on 13th September 2007, then all permissions, interpretations, relaxations, modifications et al that flowed from Quattuor Abhinc Annos and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta must also be ‘substituted’ with effect from midnight on 13th September 2007 and no longer apply. The Pope has clarified the situation that has existed since 1970 and has wiped the slate clean concerning the indults of 1984 and 1988. The 14th September 2007 brought us a new beginning in the understanding of the law, one which is based on juridical principles and not on the granting of a privilege.

If it is accepted that all the concessions and privileges that were granted under Quattuor Abhinc Annos and Ecclesia Dei Adflicta have been superseded by the new law, what, then, is the current position? Quite clearly we start with a clean slate. From 14th September 2007 we start once again with the Missal of 1962, untouched and without modification or adaptation. In his Letter to the Bishops, Pope Benedict recognises that some change will take place but he is very specific; and he speaks in the future tense only, not in the past. He says:
“new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal. The ‘Ecclesia Dei’ Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the practical possibilities in this regard.”

In effect, no changes can be made to the Missal of 1962 until the Ecclesia Dei Commission implements the will of the Holy Father and consults with the “various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior”. One would imagine that the first action of the Pontifical Commission would be the establishment of a list of ‘bodies’ to be consulted. Only when the various bodies have been identified can the process begin of studying the practical possibilities of inserting new Saints and new Prefaces. We should be entering a period of quiet diplomacy and consultation during which the Missal of 1962 should remain untouched. Engaging in this properly-structured process will have a number of benefits. Those who fear that the Missal of 1962 will be adulterated bit by bit, as happened during the 1960s, should be reassured that nothing will change until serious debate has taken place between the PCED and those who are attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition, and the PCED will be able to address itself to the task entrusted to it by Pope Benedict XVI without being inundated on a daily basis with requests for clarifications on various matters, many of which are trivial and serve only to overwhelm the staff in the Commission and divert them from the important work they are there to do. ●

Addendum:
The long-awaited clarification document, Universae Ecclesiae, was published by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on 30th April 2011 and was subject to much comment and detailed analysis in the media. The International Federation Una Voce welcomed the document.

Although some have commented that Universae Ecclesiae still leaves some questions unclear, what is perfectly clear is that the Holy Father has fully restored to the universal Church the traditional Roman rite as enshrined in the liturgical books of 1962, that the rubrics in force in 1962 must be strictly observed, and that Latin and the Usus Antiquior must be taught in seminaries where there is a pastoral need. And this pastoral need must be determined by those who wish to benefit from Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae, and not be decided by those many in authority whose natural desire is to prevent their implementation.

The International Federation Una Voce has worked patiently and tirelessly for the restoration of the traditional liturgy for more than 45 years and is now witnessing a vindication of its fidelity to Holy Mother Church and the See of Peter. However, its members, the lay faithful of Holy Mother Church, are fully aware that many in the ranks of the clergy have a burning desire to thwart their legitimate aspirations to benefit spiritually from the pastoral solicitude of Pope Benedict XVI. To this end, we who are beneficiaries of these documents, wish to state unequivocally that, while accepting the stated will of our Holy Father for the inclusion of new Saints and some new Prefaces into the Missal of 1962, we will respectfully and vigorously challenge any proposal that strays beyond these clearly defined limits and seeks to adulterate the integrity of that Missal.

Leo Darroch,
President – Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce.
30th January 2012.

On February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation, at 7:30 p.m., Mater Ecclesiae Church, Berlin, New Jersey, will have Holy Mass and Candlemas Service. This has been a tradition at Mater Ecclesiae since its founding in 2000 A.D.

On February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation, at 7:00 p.m., there will be Holy Mass and Candlemas Service at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, 931 Christian Street, Philadelphia. All are welcome, and please bring a friend to this beautiful Service.

January 24, 2012|, By Liz Gormisky, Inquirer Staff Writer

Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, appealing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s recommendation that it be closed, on Monday said it had surpassed $1 million in fund-raising to keep it open.

“We had some big donations come in over the weekend,” said Joe Mattson, president of the Monsignor Bonner Alumni Association. The largest: an anonymous gift of $100,000.

The money for the Catholic high school in Upper Darby has come from all sorts of donors, from strangers to a parent at rival school Cardinal O’Hara in neighboring Springfield.

The funds are being collected by the alumni association with the hope of using them for scholarships if the school stays open next year.

Mattson, a 1971 alumnus, said he did not have an exact figure. The association is keeping records of donors and will return the contributions if the school closes.

“We’ll keep trying to raise money until we know if we’ll be around,” Mattson said. Even as he spoke, administrators from Bonner-Prendie, as students call it, were in a formal appeals meeting with the archdiocese.

The hearing, which began at 3 p.m., lasted 90 minutes. Afterward, principal William Brannick said the school would learn its fate next month.

Brannick said the meeting was an “opportunity to present our case” using “a recap of the facts and figures” that support the school’s continued sustainability.

Bonner-Prendie plans to increase enrollment from underserved markets outside of the community immediately surrounding the school. The administration hopes that small gains in market penetration will add up and expand enrollment overall.

“Individuals on the committee were open and very receptive to it,” Brannick said of the plan, which he presented along with Bonner-Prendie president the Rev. James Olson to members of the Office of Catholic Education and the blue ribbon commission that recommended an overhaul of Catholic education in the archdiocese.

Brannick did not specify whether the fund-raising surge was used as evidence at the hearing, but said “the more financial support we have, the stronger the case.” He said the school would continue to accept donations via the alumni association.

Olson has set an overall fund-raising target of $5 million; the $1 million mark was a milestone that fell on the same day as the appeals hearing.

Brannick said that the mood of the students has been “up and down,” but that the appeals process has brought them hope.

“We need to show ourselves and our community we remain viable,” he said. But ultimately, the decision is “in the hands of the bishop and of God.”

By Julie Asher
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Every child and adult with special needs, every unwanted unborn child and every person who is “poor, weak, abandoned or homeless” is “an icon of God’s face and a vessel of his love,” said Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

“How we treat these persons — whether we revere them and welcome them, or throw them away in distaste — shows what we really believe about human dignity, both as individuals and as a nation,” he said Jan. 22 in a keynote address at a pro-life conference in Washington.

He was the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life at Georgetown University. It is named for the late Cardinal John O’Connor, archbishop of New York from 1984 to 2000.

The student-run conference drew more than 700 young people and adults. The agenda included sessions on topics such as the international abortion situation; media and the pro-life movement; abortion and natural law; adoption’s role in the pro-life movement; and ethical controversies in evolving medical technologies.

The day ended with a discussion on pro-life legislation with members of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.

In his keynote, Archbishop Chaput talked about “the kind of people we’re becoming and what we can do about it,” illustrating his theme by outlining the current situation facing unborn babies shown by genetic testing to have Down syndrome.

He said he has friends who have children with disabilities, in particular Down syndrome. He noted that about 5,000 children with the genetic disorder are born in the U.S. each year, and currently there are about 400,000 people in the country with Down syndrome.

But that population “may soon dwindle,” he said. “And the reason why it may decline illustrates, in a vivid way, a struggle with the American soul. That struggle will shape the character of our society in the decades to come.”

Prenatal testing today can detect 95 percent of the pregnancies that have a strong risk the child will be born with Down syndrome, he said. Studies show more than 80 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with it are aborted “because of a flaw in one of their chromosomes — a flaw that’s neither fatal nor contagious, but merely undesirable.”

“I’m not suggesting that doctors hold back vital information from parents. Nor should they paint an implausibly upbeat picture of life with a child who has a disability,” Archbishop Chaput said. But he suggested expectant parents hear from parents who already have special-needs children, not just from doctors and genetic counselors.

“They deserve to know that a child with Down syndrome can love, laugh, learn, work, feel hope and excitement, make friends and create joy for others,” he said.

Raising such a child, he acknowledged, “can be demanding. It always involves some degree of suffering,” as his friends have experienced.

“The real choice in accepting or rejecting a child with special needs is never between some imaginary perfection or imperfection. … The real choice in accepting or rejecting a child with special needs is between love and unlove; between courage and cowardice; between trust and fear,” Archbishop Chaput said.

That also is the choice society faces “in deciding which human lives we will treat as valuable, and which we will not,” he said.

“Abortion kills a child; it wounds a precious part of a woman’s own dignity and identity; and it steals hope. That’s why it’s wrong. That’s why it needs to end. That’s why we march.”

Quoting Jesuit Father John Courtney Murray, he said, “Anyone who really believes in God must set God, and the truth of God, above all other considerations.”

So “Catholic public officials who take God seriously cannot support laws that attack human dignity without lying to themselves, misleading others and abusing the faith of their fellow Catholics,” Archbishop Chaput said.

“Catholic doctors who take God seriously cannot do procedures, prescribe drugs or support health policies that attack the sanctity of unborn children or the elderly; or that undermine the dignity of human sexuality and the family,” he continued. “Catholic citizens who take God seriously cannot claim to love their church, and then ignore her counsel on vital public issues that shape our nation’s life.”

As a nation, he said, the United States depends “on a moral people shaped by their religious faith.” With faith “animating its people and informing its public life, America becomes something alien and hostile to the very ideals it was founded on,” he added.

Archbishop Chaput warned Catholics “to wake up from the illusion that the America we now live in … is somehow friendly to our faith.”

“Changing the course of American culture seems like such a huge task,” he said. “But St. Paul felt exactly the same way. Redeeming and converting a civilization has already been done once. It can be done again. But we need to understand that God is calling you and me to do it.”

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:28am EST

(Reuters) – Pope Benedict is asking people to stop amid the noise and haste and listen to the sounds of silence in life.

Benedict dedicated the theme of his message for the Catholic Church’s World Day of Communication to the relationship between silence and words.

“Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist,” he said in the message.

“In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves,” he said.

Benedict, who is a shy and quiet man himself, said that today “silence is a precious commodity” in a world with a “surcharge of stimuli and data.”

“It is often in silence, for example, that we observe the most authentic communication taking place between people who are in love: gestures, facial expressions and body language are signs by which they reveal themselves to each other,” he said.

Joy, anxiety, and suffering can all be communicated in silence, sometimes more powerfully than with words and silence often gives people a chance to listen — to God, to themselves and to others.

In short, the pope is asking everyone to turn down the noise, reflect, evaluate and analyze.

“For this to happen, it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds,” he said.

But he said the world of social communications was not always the problem and could also be part of the solution.

Benedict said there were “various types of websites, applications and social networks” which can help people find time for reflection and authentic questioning.

The Roman Catholic Church’s World Day of Communications is marked on May 20. The message is intended for parishes around the world to prepare for the best way to celebrate it locally.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella, editing by Paul Casciato)

Published January 25, 2012, Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – An indicted Catholic church official is showing signs he won’t take the fall alone for the priest abuse scandal in Philadelphia, with his lawyer saying Wednesday that a successor threw him “under the bus.”

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, is the only official from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia facing trial for allegedly failing to remove accused predators from the priesthood. He served as secretary of clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Defense lawyers argue that Lynn took orders from then-Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other superiors in the church hierarchy.

Prosecutors hope to include dozens of old abuse allegations to show a pattern of conduct at the trial, which is scheduled to start in late March and last several months.

One such case involves a West Chester University chaplain accused in 1994 of taking pictures of students in their underwear.

He next became chaplain of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, worked with a parish youth group and later admitted taking boys on overnight trips, one to Jamaica, before retiring to the New Jersey shore, prosecutors said.

When a New Jersey diocese asked the Philadelphia archdiocese about the priest, Monsignor Timothy Senior allegedly wrote in a letter that Lynn, his predecessor, did not fully investigate complaints against the priest.

“Maybe that’s an answer to why Monsignor Senior is not here (as a defendant). He obviously doesn’t mind throwing Monsignor Lynn under the bus,” defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy argued.

Prosecutors call the archdiocese “an unindicted co-conspirator” in the case. A 2005 grand jury report blasted Bevilacqua and his successor, Cardinal Justin Rigali, for their handling of abuse complaints, but they were never charged. Bevilacqua is now 88 and in failing health.

A judge will hear more arguments Monday on whether 27 of the 63 priests described in that grand jury report can be referenced at Lynn’s trial. Prosecutors want to show that Lynn kept them on the job despite knowing of complaints stored in “secret archives” at the archdiocese.

They have detailed the cases over a three-day pretrial hearing this week. The cases include a priest who allegedly pinned loincloths on naked boys playing Jesus in a Passion play, and whipped them, in keeping with the drama; a priest who held what prosecutors called “masturbation camps” at the rectory, having boys strip naked and teaching them to masturbate; and a pastor written up for disobedience for complaining to Bevilacqua about an accused priest being transferred to his parish.

“I truly would love a jury to see how these were handled,” Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said in court. “The more cases they see … the clearer the picture becomes.”

Although some of the abuse dates to the 1960s through 1980s, before Lynn’s time as secretary for clergy, he had access to the secret files. And many of the cases were not reported until years later, during his tenure.

Defense lawyers hope to limit the trial evidence to Lynn’s handling of the priest and ex-priest on trial with him. The Rev. James Brennan, 48, and defrocked priest Edward Avery, 69, are charged with rape. All have denied the charges.

The archdiocese declined to respond to the comments made Wednesday about Monsignor Senior, citing a gag order in the case.

Lynn is on leave from the archdiocese. Jury selection is set to start next month.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/25/key-ruling-expected-in-philly-priest-abuse-case/#ixzz1kcDHdGQR

Hispanic influence in the U.S. Catholic Church

Third of January 2012:
Second Sunday after the Epiphany

The Hispanic community in America, which was below two million in 1940, has increased tremendously in the last few decades. Today it includes over 50 millions souls and represents 16% of the 308 million Americans. Two thirds of Hispanics are Catholic, and 15% Evangelical.

The first Hispanic bishop was consecrated in 1970. There are presently 50 such bishops. Today, the Catholic Church in America counts 68 millions baptized persons, which represents about 22% of the total population, 40% of which are of Hispanic origin. To top it off, it is estimated that the growth of the Catholic population is coming from them at the rate of 70%. One of our every four children in Catholic kindergarten is Hispanic. At such a rate, the Hispanic community will compromise the majority of Catholics in America as soon as 2030.

Such statistics call for some remarks:

By now most United States dioceses have set up well-established Hispanic parishes where the faithful and children are taught the Faith and can grow with little need of adaptation. This continues the Catholic battle which all immigrants faced from the 19th century regarding the use of their own language and traditions in their Catholic schools. (I am thinking specifically of the Germans in the Midwest.) The children are growing up perfectly bilingual and they serve as mediators to less adaptable parents.

Without a doubt, Latin American culture has a lot to offer to the United States Catholic Church. Just think of the great mystics like St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. Think too of the wonderful cultural development, evangelization, and education brought about by the Spanish settlers under the Catholics Ferdinand and Isabella. They are the heirs of the highest cultural achievement which was brought about from the connection of the Old and New World. Who can boast of establishing two flourishing universities in the New World 150 years before Harvard? Who can boast of having an Indian Viceroy of Mexico just a few generations after the Spanish conquest of Cortes?

Most southern States of the USA were at one time the property of the Spanish crown. Are we witnessing the revenge of the Hispanics who were kicked out of their own territory by a fiercely Masonic government?

Yet, one may fear that the Spanish influence may be less Catholic than numbers tell. Like the waves of immigrations of the last century, the incoming Hispanics are mostly underprivileged families seeking asylum in a country which promises a rosy future for them. They have little education and little ambition. It will take generations to turn them into the powerhouse of Catholic America in leadership.

More to the point, there is here a large reserve of vital forces into which the present hierarchy must tap, under pain of letting the easy, happy-clappy Church leaders swing them to their side. It seems inevitable that our Society of St. Pius X needs to direct much of its efforts along the same lines and promote study in Spanish at the seminary. And—this is not negligible—our college students will fare better in job interviews if they can present some bilingual capacity in their resume.