Bertone Defends the Hermeneutic of Continuity

Here is an article from the Spanish site of CNA (Catholic News Agency) Aciprensa of a L'Osservatore Romano interview in which Cardinal Bertone explains and defends the vision and activity of Pope Benedict promoting the Catholic liturgical heritage in absolute fidelity and continuity. So far I only find it in Spanish. The full interview is scheduled to be published in Sunday's L'Osservatore Romano.

El Secretario de Estado Vaticano, Cardenal Tarcisio Bertone, señaló que las "elucubraciones y susurros sobre presuntos documentos de retroceso" en cuanto a la reforma de la Iglesia, en continuidad con la Tradición y el Magisterio iniciada con el Concilio Vaticano II, "son puras invenciones según un cliché estandarizado y vuelto a proponer de manera obstinada" por algunos.
Así lo indicó el Purpurado vaticano en una entrevista concedida a L'Osservatore Romano al ser preguntado por "algunas reservas" o "temores" de algunos que consideran que el Papa Benedicto XVI estaría yendo "contra" el Concilio Vaticano II, cuando la realidad demuestra todo lo contrario.
"Para entender –explicó el Cardenal– las intenciones de acción del gobierno de Benedicto XVI es necesario referirse a su historia personal –una experiencia variada que le ha permitido atravesar la Iglesia conciliar como verdadero protagonista– y, una vez elegido Papa, al discurso de inauguración de su pontificado, al de la Curia romana el 22 de diciembre de 2005 y a los actos precisos por él queridos y firmados (y en cada momento pacientemente explicados)".
Seguidamente el Secretario de Estado cita algunas "instancias del Concilio Vaticano II promovidas constantemente por el Papa con inteligencia y profundidad de pensamiento: la relación más comprensiva con las Iglesias ortodoxas y orientales, el diálogo con el judaísmo y con el Islam, que con recíproca atracción, ha suscitado respuestas y profundizaciones nunca antes vistas, purificando la memoria y abriéndose a las riquezas del otro".
Tras resaltar la buena relación que tiene el Papa con los obispos, el Cardenal Bertone señaló que "en cuanto a la reforma de la Iglesia –que es sobre todo una cuestión de interioridad y de santidad– Benedicto XVI nos ha llamado a la fuente de la Palabra de Dios, a la ley evangélica y al corazón de la vida de la Iglesia: Jesús, el Señor conocido, amado, adorado e imitado"."Con el volumen de Jesús de Nazaret y con el segundo que está preparando, el Papa nos hace un gran don y nos recuerda su voluntad de 'hacer de Cristo el corazón del mundo'", añadió.
Luego de explicar que en su pontificado, Benedicto XVI hasta el momento ha hecho más de 70 nombramientos, el Cardenal Bertone advierte que, en los medios seculares, está como "establecida la costumbre de imputar al Papa –o como se dice, sobre todo en Italia, al Vaticano– la responsabilidad de todo lo que sucede en la Iglesia o lo que declara cualquier miembro de las Iglesias locales, instituciones o grupos eclesiales. Esto no es correcto".
"Benedicto XVI es un modelo de amor a Cristo y la Iglesia, la persona que es Pastor universal, la guía en la vía de la verdad y la santidad, indicando a todos la medida alta de la fidelidad a Cristo y la ley evangélica", añadió.
Lo que es justo, explicó el Cardenal Bertone, "para una correcta información, es atribuir a cada uno (unicuique suum) la propia responsabilidad por los hechos y las palabras, sobre todo cuando estas contradicen patentemente las enseñanzas y el ejemplo del Papa".
"La imputabilidad es personal, y este criterio vale para todos, incluso en la Iglesia. Pero sobre todo el modo de informar y juzgar depende de las buenas intenciones y del amor por la verdad de los periodistas y los medios", explicó el Secretario de Estado.

Best Spanish Bible

Someone today asked me which is the best Spanish translation of the Bible (Catholic, of course).

Answer: The Nacar/Colunga which is published by BAC (Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos).

Tulsa's Bishop Slattery Explains Mass

Here is the full newspaper article (mentioned in the previous post) from the Tulsa website.

Liturgy
Revival of ancient rite brings multiple advantages, some misperceptions
By Bishop Edward J. Slattery

Because the Mass is so necessary and fundamental to our Catholic experience, the liturgy is a constant topic in our conversation. That is why when we get together, we so often reflect upon the prayers and readings, discuss the homily, and -- likely as not -- argue about the music. The critical element in these conversations is an understanding that we Catholics worship the way we do because of what the Mass is: Christ’s sacrifice, offered under the sacramental signs of bread and wine.

If our conversation about the Mass is going to “make any sense,” then we have to grasp this essential truth: At Mass Christ joins us to Himself as He offers Himself in sacrifice to the Father for the world’s redemption. We can offer ourselves like this in Him because we have become members of His Body by Baptism. We also want to remember that all of the faithful offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice as members of Christ’s body. It’s incorrect to think that only the priest offers Mass. All the faithful share in the offering, even though the priest has a unique role. He stands “in the person of Christ,” the historic Head of the Mystical Body, so that at Mass, it is the whole body of Christ -- Head and members together that make the offering.

Facing the same direction

From ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass, since the people prayed, standing or kneeling, in the place which visibly represented Our Lord’s Body, while the priest at the altar stood at the head as the Head. We formed the whole Christ -- Head and members -- both sacramentally by Baptism and visibly by our position and posture. Just as importantly, everyone -- celebrant and congregation -- faced the same direction, since they were united with Christ in offering to the Father Christ’s unique, unrepeatable and acceptable Sacrifice. When we study the most ancient liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east, in the expectation that when Christ returns, He will return “from the east.” At Mass, the Church keeps vigil, waiting for that return. This single position is called ad orientem, which simply means “toward the east.”

Multiple advantages

Having the priest and people celebrate Mass ad orientem was the liturgical norm for nearly 18 centuries. There must have been solid reasons for the Church to have held on to this posture for so long. And indeed there were!

First of all, the Catholic liturgy has always maintained a marvelous adherence to the Apostolic Tradition. We see the Mass, indeed the whole liturgical expression of the Church’s life, as something which we have received from the Apostles and which we in turn are expected to hand on intact. (1 Corinthians 11:23)

Secondly, the Church held on to this single eastward position because of the sublime way it reveals the nature of the Mass. Even someone unfamiliar with the Mass who reflected upon the celebrant and the faithful being oriented in the same direction would recognize that the priest stands at the head of the people, sharing in one and the same action, which was -- he would note with a moment’s longer reflection -- an act of worship.

An innovation with unforeseen consequences

In the past 40 years, however, this shared orientation was lost; now the priest and the people have become accustomed to facing in opposite directions. The priest faces the people while the people face the priest, even though the Eucharistic Prayer is directed to the Father and not to the people.

This innovation was introduced after the Vatican Council, partly to help the people understand the liturgical action of the Mass by allowing them to see what was going on, and partly as an accommodation to contemporary culture where people who exercise authority are expected to face directly the people they serve, like a teacher sitting behind her desk. Unfortunately this change had a number of unforeseen and largely negative effects.

First of all, it was a serious rupture with the Church’s ancient tradition.

Secondly, it can give the appearance that the priest and the people were engaged in a conversation about God, rather than the worship of God.

Thirdly, it places an inordinate importance on the personality of the celebrant by placing him on a kind of liturgical stage.

Recovering the Sacred

Even before his election as the successor to St. Peter, Pope Benedict has been urging us to draw upon the ancient liturgical practice of the Church to recover a more authentic Catholic worship and, for that reason, I have restored the venerable ad orientem position [of the bishop] when he celebrates Mass at the Cathedral. This change ought not to be misconstrued as the Bishop “turning his back on the faithful,” as if I am being inconsiderate or hostile. Such an interpretation misses the point that by facing in the same direction, the posture of the celebrant and the congregation makes explicit the fact that we journey together to God. Priest and people are on this pilgrimage together. It would also be a mistaken notion to look at the recovery of this ancient tradition as a mere “turning back of the clock.” Pope Benedict has spoken repeatedly of the importance of celebrating Mass ad orientem, but his intention is not to encourage celebrants to become “liturgical antiquarians.” Rather, His Holiness wants us to discover what underlies this ancient tradition and made it viable for so many centuries, namely, the Church’s understanding that the worship of the Mass is primarily and essentially the worship which Christ offers to His Father.

Editor’s note: This column, which is Bishop Slattery’s column for the September issue of the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic, has been distributed through Catholic communities worldwide, especially those interested in liturgy. On the web site, What Does the Prayer Really Say, (wdtprs.com/blog/) a posting of the ad orientem column has received many comments, and there also is a critique of a National Catholic Register story about Bishop Slattery’s decision to celebrate his Masses at the Cathedral ad orientem. The column also is distributed by Catholic News Service.
For information on the Diocese of Tulsa Liturgical Institute, e-mail liturgicalinstitute@dioceseoftulsa.org

Bishop Ad Orientem

Tulsa Bishop Explains Why He 'Faces East' at the Mass
8/20/2009 Zenit News Agency (http://www.zenit.org/)

From ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass.

'When we study the most ancient liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east, in the expectation that when Christ returns, he will return 'from the east.'

TULSA, Oklahoma (Zenit.org) - The bishop of Tulsa explains his decision to celebrate Mass at the diocesan cathedral "ad orientem" -- facing east -- as an effort to recapture a "more authentic" Catholic worship.

Bishop Edward Slattery affirmed this in an article featured in the September edition of the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic, titled "Ad Orientem: Revival of Ancient Rite Brings Multiple Advantages, Some Misperceptions." In a discussion about liturgy, the prelate said, it is necessary to grasp this "essential" truth: "At Mass, Christ joins us to himself as he offers himself in sacrifice to the Father for the world's redemption." He reminded his readers that "all of the faithful offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice as members of Christ's body" through baptism. The priest has a unique role in this offering, the bishop affirmed, to stand "in the person of Christ, the historic Head of the Mystical Body, so that, at Mass, it is the whole body of Christ -- Head and members together that make the offering." Bishop Slattery explained that "from ancient times, the position of the priest and the people reflected this understanding of the Mass." As well, he added, "everyone -- celebrant and congregation -- faced the same direction, since they were united with Christ in offering to the Father Christ's unique, unrepeatable and acceptable sacrifice."

The prelate continued: "When we study the most ancient liturgical practices of the Church, we find that the priest and the people faced in the same direction, usually toward the east, in the expectation that when Christ returns, he will return 'from the east.' "At Mass, the Church keeps vigil, waiting for that return. This single position is called 'ad orientem,' which simply means 'toward the east.'" This traditional posture lasted for nearly 18 centuries in the Church, he noted, as something that was handed on from the time of the Apostles.

Journey Together

The bishop observed that this single eastward position "reveals the nature of the Mass" as an act of worship shared by the priest and the congregation. However, he said, this "shared orientation was lost" as the priest and people became accustomed to facing opposite directions.

Bishop Slattery explained, "This innovation was introduced after the Vatican Council, partly to help the people understand the liturgical action of the Mass by allowing them to see what was going on, and partly as an accommodation to contemporary culture where people who exercise authority are expected to face directly the people they serve, like a teacher sitting behind her desk." Unfortunately, he added, this change had some "unforeseen and largely negative effects."

Not only was it a "serious rupture with the Church’s ancient tradition," the prelate asserted, but it also "can give the appearance that the priest and the people were engaged in a conversation about God, rather than the worship of God." He stated that it also "places an inordinate importance on the personality of the celebrant by placing him on a kind of liturgical stage." The bishop noted Benedict XVI's appeal to "draw upon the ancient liturgical practice of the Church to recover a more authentic Catholic worship." He continued, "For that reason, I have restored the venerable 'ad orientem' position when I celebrate Mass at the cathedral."

This gesture, he stated, is not one of rudeness or hostility toward the faithful, nor an attempt to "turn back the clock." Rather, Bishop Slattery affirmed, it represents the fact that "we journey together to God." As well, he continued, it is an attempt to respond to the Pope's invitation to "discover what underlies this ancient tradition and made it viable for so many centuries, namely, the Church's understanding that the worship of the Mass is primarily and essentially the worship which Christ offers to his Father."

They Receive in Themselves the Fitting Recompense of Their Perversity

Saint Paul in his letter to the Romans says that homosexuality is a punishment for the idolatry (false worship) of the non-believers and that that perversity is punished in the flesh (as we see clinically in the article below).

Here is the relevant text from the Apostle to the Nations.

"Therefore God has given them up in the lustful desires of their heart to uncleanness, so that they dishonor their bodies among themselves--they who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen.

"For this cause God has given them up to shameful lusts; for their women have exchanged the natural use for that which is against nature, and in like manner the men also, having abandoned the natural use of the woman, have burned in their lusts one towards another, men with men doing shameless things and receiving in themselves the fitting recompense of their perversity...those who practise such things are deserving of death. And not only do they do these things, but they applaud others doing them." (Romans 1:24-28, 32b)

This puts Kathleen Melonakos' work in perspective (it explains the why of the physical corruption and of the immorality [the denial of the one true God] and the cover up which tries to deny them).

Homosexuality is Bad For Your Health: Mortal Sin Means Mortal Danger

Why Isn't Homosexuality Considered A Disorder On The Basis Of Its Medical Consequences?
By Kathleen Melonakos, M.A., R.N.

I worked as an RN for several years during the eighties and nineties at Stanford University Medical Center, where I saw some of the damage homosexuals do to their bodies with some of their sexual practices. As a result of that eye-opening experience, I much admire the work of NARTH in the research and treatment of homosexuality.

I have long been concerned about the serious medical consequences which result from the gay-affirming attitudes that predominate in the San Francisco Bay Area. For example, I knew personally a prominent dermatologist, a dentist, an engineer, and a hairdresser that died in their mid-forties of infectious diseases related to their homosexual behavior patterns. I know of many others that have died young as a result of living a gay lifestyle.

The co-author of my own medical reference book, Saunders Pocket Reference for Nurses, (1) was the head of the surgery department at Stanford. She related case histories of homosexuals needing emergency surgery due to "fisting," "playing with toys," (inserting objects into the rectum) and other bizarre acts. I am certain--in light of my clinical experience, and since doing considerable amount of studying about it since that time--that homosexuality is neither normal nor benign; rather, it is a lethal behavioral addiction as Dr. Jeffrey Satinover outlines in his book, Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth. (2)

As far as I know, there is no other group of people in the United States that dies of infectious diseases in their mid-forties except practicing homosexuals. This, to me, is tragic, when we know that homosexuality can be prevented, in many cases, or substantially healed in adulthood when there is sufficient motivation and help.

I now live in Delaware and work in conjunction with the Delaware Family Foundation to inform the public about homosexual issues. We are debating gay activists who want to add "sexual discrimination" to our anti-discrimination code. In trying to make the case that homosexuality is not healthy and should not be encouraged, we come up against the fact that neither the American Psychiatric Association, nor the American Psychological Association recognize it as a disorder. Our opponents say we are using "scare tactics."

Dr. Satinover brilliantly laid out in his book, Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth the solid, irrefutable evidence that there are lethal consequences of engaging in the defining features of male homosexuality--that is, promiscuity and anal intercourse.

It doesn't take someone trained in medicine to recognize that, as Brian Camenker of the Parent Right's Coalition said on national TV, "A lifetime of anal sex does not do great things for the body." Brian also said, "As troubling as that statement sounds, there is no logical argument against it." Thus, even lay people recognize what should be obvious, especially to those trained in medicine, and who know the basic facts about homosexuality. It seems to me that medical professionals should be more aware and concerned about the consequences of habitually engaging in promiscuous anal intercourse, and other oral-anal practices of active homosexuals. (3a)

The risk of anal cancer soars for those engaging in anal intercourse. According to one report, it rises by an astounding 4000%, and doubles again for those who are HIV positive. (3b)
Can anyone refute that anal intercourse tears the rectal lining of the receptive partner, regardless of whether a condom is worn, and the subsequent contact with fecal matter leads to a host of diseases?

Diseases to which active homosexuals are vulnerable can be classified as follows:
Classical sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, infections with Chlamydia trachomatis, syphilis, herpes simplex infections, genital warts, pubic lice, scabies); enteric diseases (infections with Shigella species, Campylobacter jejuni, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, ["gay bowel disease"], Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and cytomegalovirus); trauma (related to and/or resulting in fecal incontinence, hemorroids, anal fissure, foreign bodies lodged in the rectum, rectosigmoid tears, allergic proctitis, penile edema, chemical sinusitis, inhaled nitrite burns, and sexual assault of the male patient); and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). (4)

Can anyone refute that increased morbidity and mortality is an unavoidable result of male-with-male sex--not to mention the increased rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide and other maladies that so often accompany a homosexual lifestyle? (5) People with this whole cluster of behavior patterns are somehow "normal"?

My primary question is: why isn't homosexuality considered a disorder on the basis of its medical consequences alone? Dr. Satinover and others have made a solid case for why homosexuality parallels alcoholism as an unhealthy addiction. It should have a parallel diagnosis.
There is a lot of literature, including on the NARTH website, discussing the 1973 removal of homosexuality as a diagnosis. The arguments against the change in diagnosis seem to center around "societal standards," moral relativism, "subjective distress" of the client, and whether or not there is any objective standard for "psychological" normalcy (for instance, the debate between Joseph Nicolosi and Dr. Michael Wertheimer in A Clash In Worldviews: An Interview with Dr. Michael Wertheimer).

While these considerations are important, it seems like we can set aside, for the moment, the debate on whether homosexuality should be classified as a developmental disorder. Very simply, it seems, an objective person just looking at homosexuality's lifestyle consequences would have to classify it as some kind of pathology. Does it or does it not lead to a dramatically shortened lifespan? Studies say it does, some by as much as 40%; the Cameron study being only one of many other studies that suggest this. (6)

Taken together, these studies establish that homosexuality is more deadly than smoking, alcoholism, or drug addiction. However, it appears that far too few physicians or other professionals are making arguments in favor of homosexuality as a diagnosis based on its adverse health consequences.

While doing research into the history of the 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from the diagnostic manual of disorders, I have been shocked to find out the specious reasoning upon which the decision was based, and that qualified physicians have allowed the decision to stand.
On Feb. 5, 2002, I corresponded by e-mail with Dr. Robert Spitzer of the APA and asked him to send me references for the position papers and studies upon which his committee based its decision to remove the diagnosis. He told me to read Ron Bayer's book, (7) the "closest thing to a position paper" (American Journal of Psychiatry,130:11, 1207-1216), and he said, "There was no specific list of references, but what was influential too was the Evelyn Hooker Rorshach study and the Eli Robins community study." (8)

I have read many of the criticisms of the Hooker study--how respondents were specifically selected rather than at random, and other methodological limitations. (9) Dr. Charles Socarides, who was also on the Task Force on Nomenclature, informs us also that Spitzer was influenced by the Kinsey Report, which was recognized as early as 1976 by "social progressives" like Prof. Paul Robinson of Stanford as "a pathetic manifestation of Kinsey's philosophical naivete.. a mechanical contrivance, which...bore little relation to reality," (10) and since has been discredited by the work of Judith Reisman and others.

It is clear that Dr. Socarides was right when he said that the decision to remove homosexuality as a diagnosis "involved the out-of-hand and peremptory disregard and dismissal not only of hundreds of psychiatric and psychoanalytic research papers and reports, but other serious studies by groups of psychiatrists, psychologists and educators over the past seventy years..." (11)

It appears even more obvious that the Task Force on Nomenclature cavalierly ignored (and the APA's continue to ignore!) the substantial and unambiguous evidence that homosexuality involves a life-threatening behavior with an addictive component which has serious health implications. (12)

That the APA's have escaped accountability for their lack of scientific and professional integrity is especially incredible since the advent of the AIDS epidemic. There are currently an estimated 900,000 people in the United States that are infected with the HIV virus, or 1 in 300 Americans. Though there has been a decrease in AIDS deaths per year due to drug therapy, (which costs an average of $12,000 per patient per year) the rate of new infections per year has remained the same, at 40,000, despite the twenty year "safe-sex" campaign. (13)

These facts demonstrate the failure of current policies in containing the AIDS epidemic. While drug therapy will briefly extend the life of these patients, AIDS remains the fifth leading cause of death among those aged 25-44, and 60% of new cases are contracted by men who have sex with men. (14) According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), homosexual men are a thousand times more likely to contract AIDS than the general heterosexual population (15)
Dr. Satinover has said in an interview with NARTH:

"A recent article in a psychiatric publication informed us that 30% of all 20-year-old homosexual men will be HIV positive or dead by the age of thirty. You would think that the objective, ethical approach would be: let's use anything that works to try to take these people out of their posture of risk. If it means getting them to wear condoms fine. If it means getting them to give up anal intercourse, fine. If it means getting them to give up homosexuality, fine. But that last intervention is the one intervention that it absolutely taboo.

"There is no doubt that a cold, statistical analysis of this epidemic would lead you to believe that this attitude of political correctness is killing a substantial proportion of these people. I think there is an element of denial, in the psychological sense, of what gay-related illnesses really mean." (16)

It seems to me that the APA's should be aggressively pressed to recognize the facts about the morbidity and mortality directly attributed to homosexuality, or be exposed for the recklessly irresponsible "guardians of the public health" they have become, at least on this issue.
When will doctors and other health care workers demand that officers in the American Psychiatric Association respond to the clear evidence in the following: Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth: the mortality rates listed in their own "APA's Practical Guidelines for Treating Patients with HIV/AIDS"; (17) and other important reports, such as the Monograph put out by the Institute of Sexual Health, Health Implications of Homosexuality? (18)

Lest we think that APA officers justify their neglect of medical consequences of homosexuality on the basis that sexual orientation cannot be changed, we note that Robert Spitzer acknowledged in his original 1973 position paper on Nomenclature that "modern methods of treatment enable a significant proportion of homosexuals who wish to change their sexual orientation to do so." (19)

He has now confirmed the fact that sexual orientation can be changed with his recent study. (20) We know that changing sexual orientation only became "impossible" in the nineties, as part of a political strategy by gay activists. (21)

Spitzer and his allies' rationale for removing homosexuality as a diagnosis in 1973 was that to be considered a psychiatric disorder,

"it must either regularly cause subjective distress, or regularly be associated with some generalized impairment in social effectiveness or functioning....Clearly homosexuality per se does not meet the requirements for a psychiatric disorder, since, as noted above, many are quite satisfied with their sexual orientation and demonstrate no generalized impairment in social effectiveness or functioning." (Spitzer, et.al, p. 1215).

The Task Force's reasoning fails for several reasons. First, even if we grant the validity of their stated criteria (which is questionable), the fact that many homosexuals "are satisfied with their sexual orientation," fails to take into account the large number of homosexuals who are not satisfied with their sexual orientation and who do experience "subjective distress and generalized impairment in social functioning." The removal of the diagnosis is not just unfair, but cruel to those who would seek treatment for their condition.

Secondly, there are unambiguous reasons to think that homosexuality per se does cause "generalized impairment in social effectiveness or functioning." If in fact it is a lethal addiction, and the many studies documenting the behavior patterns of homosexuals are correct (that show compulsive patterns of promiscuity, anonymous sex, sex for money, sex in public places, sex with minors, concomitant drug and alcohol abuse, depression, suicide), for the APA to argue that these features do not constitute an "impairment of social effectiveness or functioning," stretches the boundaries of plausibility. To argue that early death does not constitute an "impairment of social effectiveness or functioning" is absurd.

The APA claims its mission is "to promote a bio-psycho-social approach to understanding and caring for patients, in all aspects of health care, including illness prevention" (APA's Stategic Goals Statement). Thus the APA violates its own goals then when it ignores evidence that homosexuality can in many cases be prevented, and denies reorientation therapy to those who want it.

A careful reading of the articles opposing reorientation therapy reveals their authors' rationale that they find such therapy to be "oppressive" to those who do not want therapy. (22)
What if this logic was applied to any other lethal illness? What if doctors said, "We refuse to treat cancer (or, say, alcoholism) because we only achieve a 50% cure rate--and many people who don't want to be cured find it oppressive that we do cure the others?" Why wouldn't the lawsuits for malpractice be filed?

We know that Ronald Gold of the Gay Activist's Alliance, an openly gay man, was a member of the committee to remove homosexuality as a diagnosis in 1973. We know that gay activists were disrupting meetings, threatening doctors, and using other strong-arm tactics to get their way at that time. (23)

We also know that homosexual activists like Dr. Richard Isay in the APA have pressed for resolutions to punish therapists for practicing reorientation therapy, and that threats of lawsuits appear to be the main reason the APA has not implemented his proposals. (24)

We know homosexual advocates in the APA continue to suppress debate about Spitzer's new study documenting that sexual orientation can be changed (and to suppress debate about other supporting studies). (25) We also know that active homosexuals such as Clinton Anderson at the American Psychological Association refuse to permit NARTH to engage in open debate or announce NARTH meetings in APA publications simply because he disagrees with the premises upon which reorientation therapy is based. (26)

For these reasons, I do not think it is far-fetched to use the analogy that the "drunks are running the rehab center," in reference to the APA's--at least as far as homosexuality is concerned. Active homosexuals can hardly be objective about an addictive behavior they engage in themselves. In light of the medical evidence, it seems that the Galenic dictum, "physician heal thyself," should apply, as it did it in the past, as Dr. Satinover suggests. (27)

It seems to me the situation in this country will only get worse until the APA is held directly responsible for what is arguably their criminal negligence. In failing to reckon with serious medical consequences of the homosexual behavior pattern, they are harming our whole society, and especially the upcoming generation.

The recent decision by the American Academy of Pediatrics to endorse gay adoptions is yet another disturbing example of how the decision to "normalize" homosexuality by the APA has had a broad ripple effect. Health professionals especially, should heed Dean Byrd's outcry on the NARTH web site that it is time that the American people "insist on truth, not politics, from all of our professional organizations."

What will it take to insist on truth? Lawsuits? Protests? In my opinion, doctors and other health professionals must exert pressure, or share culpability.

What if every person reading this article sent a copy of it to the president of the American Psychiatric Association and asked for a response? Reasoned debate is the least that psychiatrists owe our society--especially those whose lives and loved ones are at risk.
The following is relevant contact information If interested in contacting these organizations, remember that our aim is to open up a principled, civil debate:

American Psychiatric Association
President, Richard Harding, M.D.mailto:M.D.RHarding@Richmed.medpark.sc.edu
President-Elect, Paul Appelbaum, M.D.appelbap@ummhc.org
Or: American Psychiatric Association1400 K Street N.W., Washington, DC 20005(888) 357-7924 -- FAX 202-682-6850 -- apa@psych.org

(1) Melonakos, Kathleen, Saunders Pocket Reference for Nurses, Philadelphia: Saunders, 1990, (2nd ed)., with Sheryl Michelson, , 1995.

(2) Satinover, Jeffrey, Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth, Hamewith/Baker Books, 1996.

(3a) For an eye-opening survey of the medical studies and journal reports describing the unhygienic and disease-producing practices of homosexuals, see http://www.cprmd.org, "Homosexual Myths--Male Homosexuals are Healthy and Have Normal Sex Lives."

(3b) Fenger, C. "Anal Neoplasia and Its Precursors: Facts and Controversies," Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology 8, no. 3, August 1991, pp.190-201; Daling, J.R. et al., "Sexual Practices, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and the Incidence of Anal Cancer," New England Journal of Medicine 317, no.16, 15 October 1987, pp. 973-77; Holly, E.A. et al., "Anal Cancer Incidence: Genital Warts, Anal Fissure or Fistula, Hemorrhoids, and Smoking," Journal of the National Cancer Institute 81, no. 22, November 1989, pp. 1726-31; Daling, J.R. et.al, "Correlates of Homosexual Behavior and the Incidence of Anal Cancer," Journal of the American Medical Association 247, no.14, 9 April 1982, pp. 1988-90; Cooper, H.S., Patchefsky, A.S. and Marks, G., "Cloacogenic Carcinoma of the Anorectum in Homosexual Men: An Observation of Four Cases"; Diseases of the Colon and Rectum 22, no. 8, 1979, pp. 557-58. Also see Between the Lines, Michigan's statewide gay newspaper, reporting on the risk of anal cancer for men who have sex with men, http://www.afa.net/homosexual_agenda/ha031901.asp

(4) W.E. Owen Jr., "Medical Problems of the Homosexual Adolescent," Journal of Adolescent Health Care6, No.4, July 1985, pp. 278-85.

(5) See O'Leary, Dale, "Recent Studies on Homosexuality and Mental Health," http://www.narth.com/docs/recent.html. O'Leary gives a summary of health findings and references for specific studies.

(6) Mr. Trey Kern, President of the Citizen's for Parent Rights, in Pasadena, Maryland has collected an impressive amount data on studies documenting the diminished lifespan of active homosexuals. See www.cprmd.org, "Homosexual Myths: Homosexuals Live Long Lives, Fact Sheet. Studies include: (G. Tardieu, 1858; M. Hirschfield, 1914, Kinsey, 1930's, 1940's; Mattachine Society, 1950's: Berger, 1960's, Kinsey Institute, 1969; Spada Report 1978; M. Mendola, 1979; Cameron, Playfair, Wellum, 1994; Hogg, R.S., et. al, International Journal of Epidemiology, 1997; Cameron, P, Cameron, K, Playfair, WL., Psychological Reports, 1998.

(7) Bayer, R. Homosexuality and American Psychiatry, Princeton University Press, 1987. Mr. Bayer chronicled the story of how homosexuality was removed as a diagnosis. It confirms that the APA did not officially investigate or study the issue thoroughly before it gave formal approval of the deletion of homosexuality from the DSMII.

(8) Personal e-mail correspondence with Dr. Spitzer, Feb. 5, 2002.

(9) Socarides, Charles, W., "Sexual Politics and Scientific Logic: The Issue of Homosexuality," The Journal of Psychohistory, 10:3, 1992, p. 309 Dr. Socarides explains that a task force within the APA itself concluded in 1973 that Hooker's study was full of methodological errors, and did not warrant her conclusions. See also, Joseph Nicolosi, "Clash of Worldviews: Interview with Michael Wertheimer", http://www.narth.com/.

(10) Socarides, p. 324.

(11) Socarides, p. 315

(12) Spitzer, R.L, et. al, in "Symposium: Should Homosexuality Be in the APA Nomenclature?" American Journal of Psychiatry, 130:11, 1973 make no mention whatsoever of any health implications of homosexuality. Also, I asked Dr. Spitzer in an e-mail correspondence April 4, 2001, whether there was any chance the APA might change its policy in light of evidence that sexual orientation can be changed and the negative impact of homosexual practices upon lifespan. He acknowledged nothing about shortened lifespan, but gave a one-sentence reply that said there was no possibility that APA would change its policy on homosexuality at that time.

(13) "APA's Practical Guidelines for the Treatment of Patients with HIV/AIDS," Epidemiology, Clinical Features Influencing Treatment, sections, www.psych.org/aids/

(14) Ibid, Anti-Viral Treatment section.

(15) The HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of HIV/AIDS, January, 1992, p. 9.

(16) Satinover, Jeffrey, "Reflections: Interview with NARTH," Feb. 5, 2001, http:www.narth.com/docs/satinover.html.

(17) See American Psychiatric Association website, www.psych.org/aids/, or obtain bound copy of report available from American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 1-800-368-5777, or http://www.appi.org/.

(18) Monograph is available from The Institute of Sexual Health, P.O.Box 162306, Austin, TX 78716, ph (512) 328-6268, fax (ph) 538-6269.

(19) Spitzer, R.L, et. al, "Symposium: Should Homosexuality Be in the APA Nomenclature?" p.1215.

(20) Spitzer, R.L, "Two Hundred Subjects Who Claim to Have Changed Their Sexual Orientation from Homosexual to Heterosexual," presentation made at the American Psychiatric Association, May 9th, 2001, in New Orleans, available from NYS Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, 10032, phone (212) 543-5524.

(21) Rev. Dr. Earle Fox, former president of the chapter of Exodus Intl. whose members picketed the 2000 APA convention to protest the denial of therapy to those who want it (which resulted in Dr. Robert Spitzer's 2001 study on reorientation therapy), tells in "Homosexuality Wrongly a Civil Right," Delaware State News, January 13, 2002, how no one was disputing that sexual orientation could be changed until gay activists, Kirk and Madsen, in After the Ball: How America will Conquer It's Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90's, Doubleday, 1989, outlined their plan to convince America gays were "born that way," and "beyond the realm of moral choice," p. 189.

(22) For an extensive survey of the articles promoting the view opposing reorientation therapy, see Diamond, Eugene, et.al, Homosexuality and Hope, the results of a two-year study, published by the Catholic Medical Association, p. 14, obtainable at P.O. Box 757, Pewaukee, WI, 53072 or http://www.cathmed.org/ . Some of the articles quoted are Davison, G., 1982; Gittings, 1973; Begelman, 1975, 1977; Murphy 1992; Sleek 1997; Silverstein, 1972; Smith, 1988. See also, "Psychiatrists Reject Therapy to Alter Gays: Efforts aimed at Turning Homosexuals into Heterosexuals are Harmful, Professional Board Declares, Even for Those Not Being Treated," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12, 1998.

(23) Socarides, p. 310. See also, Satinover, p. 31-40.

(24) See Satinover, p. 36,180-182, and Stern, Mark, E, "The Battle Against the A.P.A. Resolution", www.narth.com, Interviews/Testimonies.

(25) Rev. Dr. Earle Fox, Delaware State News, Jan. 13, 2002.

(26) NARTH Bulletin, Vol. 10, No. 3, Dec. 2001, Letter from Clinton W. Anderson to Drs. Nicolosi and Byrd, p. 16.

(27) Satinover, p. 47.
Copyright © NARTH. All Rights Reserved. Leadership U.

Youth Prayer to Christ Jesus

Here is a poetic prayer which I just found on the first page of an traditional Italian devotional (La Guida, Milano 1949). It captures very well the generous Christian disposition which Pope Benedict in his most recent encyclical proposes for every man. Here is my translation. The picture is of the mountains of the land of my paternal ancestors.

Lord Jesus, make my conscience to be straight like the great fir tree which shoots itself toward the sky.

That my generosity be like the spring, which gives and never empties.

That my soul have the purity of the torrents which are born from the stainless snows.

That my will be like the granite without faults.

That, through all the trails of the alps, my youth have You alone for the companion of its continuous ascent.

That the Cross which stands along-side the road be for me like the meeting of a friend.

And forever so!

Baptizing Sociology

One of Pope Benedict's central themes is man's essential need for God. This theme is unpacked regarding the present economic crisis and international world political and cultural scene. Here is a quote that summarizes the source of the present post-enlightenment problem: the attempt to exclude God from the world.

"The humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism" Caritas in Veritate, 78

Cardinal Bertone Presents the Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate"

The Vatican website has published the 28 July 2009 address to the Italian Senate of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., the Vatican Secretary of State. It is, to date, the clearest and profoundest presentation of the anthropological roots of the encyclical from a man who very well understands the mind of the Magisterium. Here is the link for the Spanish translation since I do not yet find the English.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/card-bertone/2009/documents/rc_seg-st_20090728_visita-senato_sp.html

Does anyone know of any world masters in the thought of Benedict? Where can one find an expert in these avant guard ideas which are coming out of the Magisterium? I would love to find someone in some university in a German speaking land (or elsewhere) who in a year or two could teach me the world vision of Pope Benedict XVI, sort of how Cardinal Bertone presents him, with clarity and full intellectual force and complete allegiance.

Generous Gratitude

A bumper sticker in the diner parking lot yesterday read:

"Faith has two parts: one is patience and the other is gratitude."

Somewhat hyperbolic but both are certainly essential to mature Christian faith.

This is what the Holy Father is getting at in his encyclical on the economy, Caritas in Veritate. The source of the solution to the world crisis is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Every man and woman needs to accept and experience the love of Christ. Each one needs Him and having Him each will have the largess to correspond with personal responsibility and generosity to the Lord's call to goodness and truth, and thus conquer the prevailing atmosphere of greed which suffocates the human person. Yes, indeed, faith must include patience and gratitude. Jesus is meek and humble of heart. All must learn from Him, from His company, from His friendship. As the saying goes, you can tell a man by his friends. If Christ is your friend you will be patient and grateful and the patience and gratitude will spread!

Brief Synopsis of Caritas in Veritate

I would summarize the new encyclical with one quote of our Lord from the encyclical indicating man's essential need for God (78):

"Apart from me you can do nothing." (Jn 15:5)

Man needs Christ in order to know the one true God (to see God in the face) and thereby know his own true identity as the image and likeness of God and to know his purpose of perfection in the world and to have the desire and the strength to pursue it authentically. For the economy to be right man must be right because all the essential economic actions are acts of men in correspondence with the acts of God.

We human beings must be grateful to God who has given us every good thing and principally our own human greatness, and our gratitude to Him is the greatest and only true ultimate motive of responsibility for our own actions and relationships with God and in marriage and in the family and with others and with the environment and with all peoples and among nations and even in matters of money and commerce and investment and security. The center of man's gratitude and responsibility to God is manifested in willful obedience and dependence on His mighty hand: i.e. the moral life and the interior life. Because...

"A humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism." (78)

I'll quote from the end of the sixth chapter of the encyclical, on the limits of technology, which illustrates the need that the men of our age have for a personal relationship with God, and that it is only the personal holiness of individual men and women that will make our world a just world.

"76 One aspect of the contemporary technological mindset is the tendency to consider the problems and emotions of the interior life from a purely psychological point of view, even to the point of neurological reductionism. In this way man's interiority is emptied of its meaning and gradually our awareness of the human soul's ontological depths, as probed by the saints, is lost. The question of development is closely bound up with our understanding of the human soul, insofar as we often reduce the self to the psyche and confuse the soul's heath with emotional well-being. These over-simplifications stem from a profound failure to understand the spiritual life, and they obscure the fact that the development of individuals and peoples depends partly on the resolution of problems of a spiritual nature. Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth, since the human person is a 'unity of body and soul,' (Gaudium et Spes, 14) born of God's creative love and destined for eternal life. The human being develops when he grows in the spirit, when his soul comes to know itself and the truths that God has implanted deep within, when he enters into dialogue with himself and his Creator. When he is far away from God, man is unsettled and ill at ease. Social and psychological alienation and the many neuroses that afflict affluent societies are attributable in part to spiritual factors. A prosperous society, highly developed in material terms but weighing heavily on the soul, is not of itself conducive to authentic development. The new forms of slavery to drugs and the lack of hope into which so many people fall can be explained not only in sociological and psychological terms but also in essentially spiritual terms. The emptiness in which the soul feels abandoned, despite the availability of countless therapies for body and psyche, leads to suffering. There cannot be holistic development and universal common good unless people's spiritual and moral welfare is taken into account, considered in their totality as body and soul.

"77 The supremacy of technology tends to prevent people from recognizing anything that cannot be explained in terms of matter alone. Yet everyone experiences the many immaterial and spiritual dimensions of life. Knowing is not simply a material act, since the object that is known always conceals something beyond the empirical datum. All our knowledge, even the most simple, is always a minor miracle, since it can never be fully explained by the material instruments that we apply to it [e.g. Helen Keller's quantum leap insight to understanding: "w-a-t-e-r"]. In every truth there is something more than we would have expected, in the love that we receive there is always an element that surprises us. We should never cease to marvel at these things. In all knowledge and in every act of love the human soul experiences something 'over and above,' which seems very much like a gift that we receive, or a height to which we are raised. The development of individuals and peoples is likewise located on a height, if we consider the spiritual dimension that must be present if such development is to be authentic. It requires new eyes and a new heart, capable of rising above a materialistic vision of human events, capable of glimpsing in development the 'beyond' that technology cannot give. By following this path, it is possible to pursue the integral human development that takes its direction from the driving force of charity in truth [i.e. from God Himself]."

Our present worldwide economic crisis is a crisis of saints!

Guadalupe's Most Worthy Altar

Two Tuesdays ago I landed in Mexico city and went straight to the Antigua Basilica de Guadalupe (the original Basilica) to find a worthy altar at Tepeyac to offer the Holy Sacrifice usus antiquor (with my own pocket Missal of course). To my great surprise and delight the sacristan was happy to set me up immediately to offer the Mass and he even provided his only roman vestment for it (which had been used by San Rafael Guizar y Valencia of Veracruz). Since the vestment was red I offered a votive Mass of Blessed Miguel Pro.

The Mass was on the precious altar of the Capilla del Sagrario, which you can barely see in the picture (it was the best picture I could find on the Internet, if any of my friends can find a better one please send it for me to post: the choir, the grill, the silver altar rail, the gilded altar and silver tabernacle were all magnificent).

The whole basilica is undergoing a complete restoration (apparently to it's original traditional glory) of which this side chapel is a splendid example.

Luis Alberto Rosales Herrera is the most accommodating sacristan. He can be reached (in Spanish only) at alberto_rosher@yahoo.com.mx or alberto_rosher@hotmail.com.

Fessio's Assessment of New Encyclical

A New Framework for Social Justice

By Father Joseph Fessio, SJ

7/9/2009

'Pope Benedict has changed the whole framework of the debate on 'the social question.'

NAPLES, Florida (Zenit) - Benedict XVI has something for everyone in "Caritas in Veritate" -- from praising profit (21) to defending the environment (48). But in these cases, as in all the others, he calls for a discernment and a purification by faith and reason (56) that should temper immoderate and one-sided enthusiasms.

Once again, Pope Benedict shows himself to be a theologian of synthesis and fundamental principles. In the titles of his three encyclicals he has used only five nouns: God, Love, Hope, Salvation, and Truth -- the most fundamental of realities. And in the opening greeting of this encyclical he succinctly describes the contents: "on integral human development in charity and truth."

Note that from this very greeting Pope Benedict has changed the whole framework of the debate on "the social question." This was expected to be -- and is -- his encyclical on "social justice." And indeed "justice" and "rights" find their proper place in a larger synthesis. But the priority is established from the outset, the foundation is laid, with "charity" and "truth." "Charity is at the heart of the Church's social doctrine" (2). "Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power" (5).

Another fundamental principle, and a central theme of this pontificate, is the continuity of the Church and her teaching. Surprisingly, the central ecclesiastical text from the past is Pope Paul VI's "Populorum Progressio," and Pope Benedict makes it clear that we do not have "two typologies of social doctrine, one pre-conciliar and one post-conciliar, differing from one another: On the contrary, there is a single teaching, consistent and at the same time ever new" (12). This principle of continuity was expressed centrally in Benedict's first address as Pope on April 20, 2005, and again to the Roman curial cardinals on Dec. 22 of that year.

Within this fundamental material context of charity and truth, and the fundamental formal context of the continuity of the Church's teaching, Pope Benedict situates the centerpiece of the Church's social teaching: "integral human development." And by "integral" he means "it has to promote the good of every man and of the whole man" (18, quoting Paul VI). Among the important dimensions of this wholeness, he notes that integral human development must be open to the transcendent (11: "authentic human development concerns the whole of the person in every single dimension. Without the perspective of eternal life, human progress in this world is denied breathing-space.") and it must be open to life (28: "Openness to life is at the center of true development").

The inclusiveness of this integration is emphatically and perhaps surprisingly exemplified in paragraph 39. There, the Pope states that the "logic of the market and the logic of the state," i.e., free economic exchange with political oversight and restraint, are not enough to secure human flourishing. There must also be "solidarity in relations between citizens, participation and adherence, actions of gratuitousness" or, as he says in summary, "increasing openness, in a world context, to forms of economic activity marked by quotas of gratuitousness and communion." Pope Benedict insists on a "third economic factor" in addition to the market and the state: gratuitousness.

Here is a radiant example of the fundamental, synthetic, and discerning character of Pope Benedict's formulation of the Church's social teaching, one which for me is worth the whole encyclical for its clarity, depth, and common sense: "If there is lack of respect for the right to life and a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational system and laws do not help them to respect themselves" (51).

There are times when one is especially proud of the blessing of the Catholic faith. This is one of them.

* * * Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio is the editor of Ignatius Press and theologian in residence at Ave Maria University. Father Fessio is also a former student of Joseph Ratzinger and belongs to Ratzinger's "Schülerkreis."

New Encyclical Out July 7

"Caritas in Veritate" to Cover Social Themes

VATICAN CITY, JULY 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's new encyclical, titled "Caritas in Veritate," will be released Tuesday, the Vatican announced.

The Vatican press office confirmed today that the Pope's first social encyclical, which is expected to offer an analysis of the current economic crisis, will be presented at a press conference in the late morning July 7. The text will then be released to the public at midday, local time.

Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino and Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will present the encyclical at the press conference.

The Vatican also noted that Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, will speak, as will Stefano Zamagni, professor of political economy at the University of Bologna, Italy and consultor of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

The encyclical's release is one day before the Group of Eight will begin an international summit in L'Aquila, Italy.

The Holy Father signed the encyclical Monday, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. That same day, before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI explained that the encyclical is a reflection on the conditions necessary for "integral development." He added that it returns to social themes found in "Populorum Progressio," written by Pope Paul VI in 1967.

He explained that it "aims to go deeper in certain aspects of the integral development of our age, in the light of charity in truth."

"I entrust to your prayer this new contribution that the Church offers to humanity in its commitment to sustainable progress, in full respect of human dignity and the real needs everyone has," Benedict XVI said.

"Caritas in Veritate" is the first social encyclical to be written in almost two decades. Pope John Paul II penned "Centesimus Annus" in 1991, a century after Pope Leo XIII's "Rerum Novarum."

The encyclical will be released in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.

Homosexualism Defined

Homosexualism is the promotion, acceptance or tacit approval of homosexuality.

It has become a prevailing ideology.

Call it homosexualism.

Name it!

Christians must name it and Christians must roundly condemn it as do Saint Paul (cf. Romans chapter 1 and Pope Benedict, cf. CDF letter on the pastoral care of persons with homosexual tendencies http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html ).

To name this error is an act of love for the salvation of souls--especially for those embroiled in the resultant immorality and godlessness: caritas in veritate (cf. Ephesians 4:5 referenced by His Holiness in his homily for the close of the Pauline Year 28 June 2009 and in his Catholic University of America Address 17 April 2008: "We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good and an aimless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of freedom. We witness an assumption that every experience is of equal worth and a reluctance to admit imperfection and mistakes. And particularly disturbing is the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of 'risk', bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love. How might Christian educators respond? These harmful developments point to the particular urgency of what we might call 'intellectual charity'. This aspect of charity calls the educator to recognize that the profound responsibility to lead the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love. Indeed, the dignity of education lies in fostering the true perfection and happiness of those to be educated. In practice, 'intellectual charity' upholds the essential unity of knowledge against the fragmentation which ensues when reason is detached from the pursuit of truth. It guides the young towards the deep satisfaction of exercising freedom in relation to truth, and it strives to articulate the relationship between faith and all aspects of family and civic life".)

To remain silent is a lack of love.

Catholic education is an act of love!

Jackson's Apostasy, McMahon and Fawcett's Catholicism

Thursday, June 25, 2009

www.extremecatholic.blogspot.com

McMahon, Fawcett, and Jackson

It's confirmed again, that celebrities die in threes. Who could have imagined that these three are forever linked by the date of their death as Mother Teresa and Princess Di are?

[My (Plinthos) comment to that is who was Ed McMahon? and Mother Teresa and Princess Diana did not die on the same day!]

Let's take a moment to remember them as children of God and pray for their souls. [Indeed!]

On local television news tonight, it's all about Michael Jackson. So far no one mentioned that he converted to the Muslim faith, or that he leaves behind three children.

Both Ed McMahon and Farah Fawcett were Catholics and received the sacraments prior to their deaths.

Priest Teaching Catechism: More Important than Preaching

Being the first week of the sacerdotal year I thought it would be good to provide Saint Anthony Mary Claret's most practical catechetical method which I translate from volume two of El Colegial o Seminarista Teorica y Practicamente Instruido, 1861 (pp. 513-518).




Section V. On what a priest should teach.

Chapter IV. On the catechism.

The priest has the obligation to instruct the faithful in christian doctrine, in the mysteries which they should believe, in the precepts which they should keep, in the Sacraments which they should receive and in the prayers which they should pray; how they are to remove themselves from evil and do the good, and how they are to live in the holy fear and love of God.


The Bishops shall take care that children be punctually taught the fundamentals of the faith or catechism; the obedience that they owe God and their parents; and, if necessary, they shall require that they be taught, with ecclesial censures and no impeding privileges. by the persons to whom it pertains in all of the parishes, at least on sundays and other feast days. (Council of Trent, session XXIV, chapter 4 de Ref.).


And the sacred Congregation, by the decree of 5 august of the year 1732, says: Each pastor shall teach the elements of christian doctrine to the boys and girls of his parish, placing them separately the boys from the girls, as it is done in Rome and in other places.


The same sacred Congregation declared on 5 august 1774 that the explanation of doctrine could not be interrupted on even one feast day of the year in any parish, not even at vintage time, even if there should be no more than one person in attendance in the temple.


Benedict XIV says: May the priest pastors know that they have two principle obligations: one is that they are to preach to the people on feast days, and the other is that on the same feast days they are to instruct the children and the ignorant adults in the christian doctrine.


Saint Charles Borromeo with the greatest severity would order that the pastors preach to the people in the morning at the mass and to the children in the afternoon, ringing the bell for them to come.


The obligation to preach to the people and to catechize the children and the ignorant binds sub gravi.


Benedict XIV orders that the pastors be helped in this work of catechizing by those initiated in tonsure and those that aspire to the priesthood, the Bishops refusing final ordination to those who should present themselves lax or reticent in this matter; and for this reason care shall be taken that they know the catechism well, because sometimes they do not know it, and in that case they will poorly know how to teach it. Nemo dat quod non habet.


The above mentioned Pontiff also asks and demands that in addition to the pastors, priests and ordained (including all aspirants to the priesthood), who should teach the christian doctrine to the boys and girls, fathers and mothers of families, teachers and the brothers of the confraternities also teach it.


The priest pastors should know that the Catechism is more necessary than preaching, for the latter becomes almost useless when the listener is ignorant of the Catechism.


The Catechism is of two types: for children and for adults.





Article 1. On the catechism for children.



The main defect in catechesis is too much talking; thus the catechist should speak little, he should ask the question and the child should respond: if he errs he shall make another child correct him, and thus they will ensure that all shall be attentive.


The children are only alert when they speak and when they are told illustrating examples; and so, before finishing the catechism some analogy to the material or to their age or customs shall be told to them.


The catechist should have method; otherwise he shall progress very little. The method which we have hitherto seen to give the best results is the one which we are going to give here, which rests on these points:


1. If there is only one catechist and many students, he shall have them placed, standing or seated, in the form of a half moon or semi-circle and the catechist shall place himself in the middle, in such a way that with one glance he can see them all.


2. If there are two or more catechists the students shall be divided, because the fewer each catechist has the more progress will be made, because all can exercise themselves more.


3. If there are few catechists and many students, they can use the more advanced students to teach the groups of the beginners, and after they have taught a while the respective classes shall be placed.


4. Before beginning the catechism, and placed as indicated, the catechist and students all make the sign of the cross with pause and devotion; and after they pray three Hail Mary's to most holy Mary, and an Our Father and Hail Mary to the guardian Angels.


5. One begins according to the little book of catechism of the diocese with the first question; he asks the question to one whom he knows knows it, and if he does not know it the catechist will help him word by word. He will ask the same question to others. Sometimes it turns out well that one same thing be said by all together and at the same time, and after to ask it one by one; and one shall not pass to the second question until the first is known well.


6. When the first question is known well one passes to the second; when the second is known it is joined to the first and both are repeated; then one passes to the third, and when it is known it is joined to the preceding ones and they are repeated, and one continues thus.


7. The first day that one should return to the catechism, before asking one shall begin by reviewing these same question, then one shall ask the others that follow.


8. When the children know some questions they are placed in front of the class, and both, two by two, ask each other and respond reciprocally.


9. Two lines may also be formed, one facing the other, and the first (student) in one line asks the first (student) of the other line, and the latter responds and asks the second of the other line.


10. When the children know the letter of the Catechism, the catechist shall vary the wording and ask the same things to see if the children understand them.


11. He shall also add some questions to it, but this shall not be done until the little book is known well. That is how they become used to discussing.


12. Before concluding a small talk of few minutes is given according to their capacity, in clear and simple terms, and it shall have five parts: The 1st shall be the proposition, which shall serve as an introduction; 2nd an exposition; 3rd an example or case; 4th a moral, and 5th a resolution.



Article 2. On the catechism for adults


The catechism is not just to be taught to children but also to adults; and experience shows that more fruit is had with the catechism or doctrinal points than with sermons.

To give the catechism for adults the catechist should be wise and experienced, and he should observe much method.

In each instruction or talk he shall observe the following: 1st he shall make the introduction, the exposition of the matter, and the division; these three will form the exordium of the doctrinal talk.

Next he follows with the explanation of the precept, sacrament or mystery.

Then he goes to the moral. And finally he responds to the objections (difficulties or excuses) which the lax or those who are a little timid might presumably make. Regarding the introduction, it shall be made from the preceding instruction or talk, synthesizing it: this is very useful for the catechist, who needs not work too hard, and it greatly serves the listener, because it refreshes the ideas of the previous instruction and makes him more firm in them, correcting if he did not well understand something, and those who were absent shall know the material that was covered and what will be covered.

Then the matter shall be expounded, and shall be divided, and thus one shall speak with more clarity, it shall be better understood and better remembered; he shall explain the material, he shall prove the doctrine by authorities, but that they not be many nor long, with reasons, with likenesses and comparisons, and with some small example or story taken from sacred Scripture or from some author or commentator.

Later the moral lesson shall be brought up, the remedies shall be shown, the means, the difficulties shall be solved and the excuses shall disappear.

With all the rest as it may be seen in the authors of the catalogue. (Here Saint Claret is referring to his list of books that each priest should own in each branch of theology, etc. pp. 398-408. I shall provide that list (in Spanish) in a future blog.)

Alter Christus

In the first Wednesday Audience during the sacerdotal year yesterday, the Holy Father indicated that, because of Christ (the source and purpose of the priesthood), the essential duty of the priest is to be in intimate communion with God. He must be holy, that is the first "work" of the priest. Here are a few relevant passages.

Alter Christus, the priest is profoundly united to the Word of the Father, who in incarnating himself, has taken the form of a slave, has made himself a slave (cf. Philippians 2:5-11). The priest is a slave of Christ in the sense that his existence, ontologically configured to Christ, takes on an essentially relational character: He is in Christ, through Christ, and with Christ at the service of man. Precisely because he belongs to Christ, the priest is radically at the service of all people: He is the minister of their salvation, of their happiness, of their authentic liberation -- maturing, in this progressive taking up of the will of Christ, in prayer, in this "remaining heart to heart" with him. This is therefore the essential condition of all proclamation, which implies participation in the sacramental offering of the Eucharist and docile obedience to the Church.

The holy Curé d'Ars often repeated with tears in his eyes: "What a frightening thing to be a priest!" And he added: "How we ought to pity a priest who celebrates Mass as if he were engaged in something routine. How wretched is a priest without interior life!"

May this Year of the Priest bring all priests to identify themselves totally with Jesus, crucified and risen, so that in imitation of St. John the Baptist, we are willing to "decrease" so that he increases; so that, following the example of the Curé d'Ars, they constantly and deeply understand the responsibility of their mission, which is sign and presence of the infinite mercy of God. Let us entrust to the Virgin, Mother of the Church, this Year for Priests just begun and all the priests of the world.

Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, redeemer of the world,

God the Holy Spirit,

Holy Trinity, one God,

Heart of Mary, Pray for us.

Heart of Mary, after God’s own Heart,

Heart of Mary, in union with the Heart of Jesus,

Heart of Mary, the vessel of the Holy Spirit,

Heart of Mary, shrine of the Trinity,

Heart of Mary, home of the Word,

Heart of Mary, immaculate in your creation,

Heart of Mary, flooded with grace,

Heart of Mary, blessed of all hearts,

Heart of Mary, Throne of glory,

Heart of Mary, Abyss of humbleness,

Heart of Mary, Victim of love,

Heart of Mary, nailed to the cross,

Heart of Mary, comfort of the sad,

Heart of Mary, refuge of the sinner,

Heart of Mary, hope of the dying,

Heart of Mary, seat of mercy,

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

L: Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of heart.

A: Conform our hearts to the heart of Jesus.

Let us pray:

O most merciful God, who for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the wretched, has made the Immaculate Heart of Mary most like in tenderness and pity to the Heart of Jesus, grant that we, who now commemorate her most sweet and loving heart, may by her merits and intercession, ever live in the fellowship of the hearts of both Mother and Son, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Spiritual Communion of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

(of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

O Mary give me your heart, so beautiful, so pure so Immaculate, so full of love and tenderness, that I may receive Jesus in the Bread of Life, love Him as you love Him and serve Him in the destressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.

Papal Letter to Priests for the Opening of the Sacerdotal Year

Having just read the Letter I have one major reflection.

His Holiness' Letter to open the Sacerdotal Year is a panegyric on the Cure D'Ars and at the same time an exaltation of the unique dignity and duties of the ministerial priesthood.

One example of the grandeur of the priesthood is the idea which I first heard at a First Mass reception by Father John Hardon, that "were it not for the Catholic Priesthood Jesus Christ would not be on earth today". That is the idea conveyed in the Holy Father's Letter quoting the following text of the patron saint of parish priests:

"Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put Him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest. ... After God, the priest is everything! ... Only in heaven will he fully realise what he is".

How shall we call it? Clear clerical identity coupled with selfless service and humble obedience to the Lord in the Church and in Her sacred rituals.

The place in which the reality of the sublime dignity and duties of the priest are best expressed and exercised are in the exalted and most solemn rites of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Ritual. So it is most appropriate that here in New York City we should begin this sacerdotal year with a solemn high pontifical Mass of this feast of the Sacred Heart in the extraordinary form of the Mass. Saint Jean Baptiste, 74th and Lexington, 7PM.