ZENIT
The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - September 23, 2008
VATICAN DOSSIER Pope to Visit Padre Pio's Tomb in '09 Catacomb Display Part of Heritage Day WORLD FEATURES Talk Show Discusses Divine Rulebook Priest and 2 Laypeople Slain in India Holy See: Africa Needs to Take Reins of Progress NEWS BRIEFS Cardinal Points to Faulty Logic in Abortion Bill INTERVIEW 40 Days Revive Hope for Life (Part 1) New Book Skewers Moral Relativism LITURGY Churches Dedicated and Consecrated DOCUMENTS Holy See on Africa's Development
VATICAN DOSSIER
Pope to Visit Padre Pio's Tomb in '09
Cardinal Bertone Says Trip Is Prepared
SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's secretary of state says everything is prepared for a papal trip to the tomb of Padre Pio in 2009.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone affirmed this today in San Giovanni Rotondo during a Mass that marked the 40th anniversary of the saint's death, as well as his liturgical feast day.
"Benedict XVI asked me to announce that everything is prepared. The Pope will come to San Giovanni Rotondo in 2009," said the cardinal to the thousands of faithful gathered for the celebration.
During the homily, Cardinal Bertone recalled the figure of Padre Pio, describing him as "a disciple of Christ who sought no other glory than to love and suffer for him. He was a priest who wanted nothing other than to be consumed in love for God and his brethren."
"He was a sincere son of the Church, and preferred not to defend himself, even on the most painful occasions, dying to himself in the docile silence of difficult but fruitful obedience," he added.
Forty years after his death, "Saint Pio is like a channel of water that gushes richly, and at whose source all can drink the fresh water of truth and love that the Lord offers in abundance to all," added the cardinal.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina is one of the most venerated saints of Italy. A Capuchin friar, he received the stigmata in 1918 and died in 1968. Pope John Paul II canonized him on June 16, 2002.
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Catacomb Display Part of Heritage Day
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The Holy See will participate in European Heritage Day with free entrance into museums and the launch of a photo exhibit on the burial customs of ancient Rome.
European Heritage Day will be observed this Sunday, Sept. 28. It is promoted by the Council of Europe and aims to make European heritage known to the public by promoting cultural activities. The theme chosen by the Holy See this year is "European Cultural Heritage for Intercultural Dialogue."
The Holy See's participation in the day will include free access to the Vatican Museums and all catacombs usually open to the public.
On Saturday, a month-long photographic exhibition will open in the Catacomb of St. Calixtus titled "Funerary Customs and Testimonies of Late Ancient Rome: Christian, Pagan and Jewish Burials."
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On the Net:
Holy See Events: www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/aware/ehd/National_events/saint-siege_en.asp
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WORLD FEATURES
Talk Show Discusses Divine Rulebook
Former NFL Player Hosts "Crossing the Goal"
By David Hartline
IRONDALE, Alabama, SEPT. 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- If thinking about football during Mass and prayer time is becoming a problem, maybe former NFL all-pro wide receiver and coach Danny Abramowicz could help redirect that love of sports toward a love for God.
Abramowicz is the host of "Crossing the Goal," a new show airing on EWTN that caters to the sports-minded to communicate basic truths of the Catholic faith and to be a catalyst for change for those who watch it.
The former NFL football star co-hosts with Curtis Martin, founder of the Catholic campus group Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), Peter Herbeck of Renewal Ministries, and Brian Patrick host of The Son Rise Morning Show on Cincinnati's Sacred Heart Radio.
"Men aren't always good at understanding the significance of people like Paul and Barnabas and how that might relate to them," Abramowicz told ZENIT. "We are going to help them to do that with technology and networking for conferences and events in wherever location the viewer may be watching.
"They want to better understand their Catholic faith and put it into practice and we want to help them accomplish that."
Crossing the Goal's segments -- aptly named Kick Off, Game Plan, Red Zone and End Zone -- look like ESPN Sports Center or pre-game segments as guests analyze various faith and family problems and solutions.
Searching
Abramowicz wasn't always so gung-ho about his faith. Similar to many ex-professional athletes, he wondered in the early 1970s what his life was going to be like after the crowds were gone and the paychecks stopped coming.
Sadly, his life was not where he wanted it to be; the enthusiasm he displayed on the football field was replaced with other challenges. Abramowicz has acknowledged that God made it clear to him that his love of alcohol was preventing him from being all he could be.
Yet instead of becoming the caricature of an aging ex-athlete, Abramowicz started to do something about it. He started asking questions about his faith. The answers to these questions led him to believe that there would be more to his faith life than just attending Mass on Sunday. He knew he needed to be a better family man.
As the 1980s marched on, Abramowicz grew in his faith and realized that God was planning something bigger for him.
In 1997, legendary football Coach Mike Ditka was named head coach of the New Orleans Saints. He left behind his retirement and his Super Bowl winning stint with the Chicago Bears to see if he could do the same for the Saints.
Ditka put Abramowicz in charge of the Saint's offense. Abramowicz knew even the vaunted position of offensive coordinator was not all God had in mind for him. Following in the steps of Ditka, Abramowicz retired from football in 1999.
Head coach
Faith moved front and center in the life of Danny Abramowicz. It was there for all to see as he gave talks and wrote books about the importance of living out your Catholic faith.
He used metaphors of Jesus Christ as the head coach, and his coaching staff, the apostles, aided by the personal trainer, the Holy Spirit.
Analogies like this helped Abramowicz connect with an audience that might not have connected as well with the usual approach. In his talks he reminds the faithful that fans expect football players to know the rulebook and playbook, and likewise the faithful must have a grasp of the Bible and the Catechism.
All of this personal growth convinced EWTN to launch a new show in which Abramowicz could use all of his tools as well as bring in some well-known Catholic men to discuss their faith and family lives.
Abramowicz mentioned the unique advantages the show would have in pushing men forward in their faith lives: "Men need to be challenged and we will give them the tools to meet the challenge through technology and alerting them to conferences and leadership seminars in their area.
"We want to help those watching to be better husbands and fathers. However, it doesn't stop there. Finances and personal responsibility will be emphasized; so many family problems revolve around those issues and we want to help.
"The show is just the start. We want to help those who watch it by improving their faith lives. We really want to help them to continue what was mentioned on Crossing the Goal."
He added, "I am really excited about the possibilities."
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On the Net:
Crossing the Goal: www.ewtn.com/series/crossingthegoal/index.htm
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Priest and 2 Laypeople Slain in India
Italian Cardinal Urges Solidarity With Persecuted
MUMBAI, India, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- As the wave of anti-Christian violence continues in India, two more laypeople were added Monday to the list of victims.
A Catholic priest, Father Samuel Francis, was also killed over the weekend, but authorities have not yet ruled out the possibility that his slaying was the result of a robbery, according to AsiaNews.
Attacks continue against churches and Christian centers in the states of Orissa, Chhattisghar, Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The wave of anti-Christian violence at the hands of Hindu extremists has been heightened since the end of August.
The All India Christian Council reported that in Orissa alone, 37 Christians have already been killed, among them two Protestant pastors; more than 4,000 houses have been burned, and close to 50,000 faithful have fled to camps or sought refuge in the forests.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the Italian episcopal conference, spoke out against these events, denouncing the "anti-Christian persecution taking place in India, Iraq and other parts of the world."
In his address on the occasion of the meeting of the conference's Permanent Council, being held these days in Rome, the cardinal referred especially to the "wave of Christian-phobia" in India. He denounced "contempt for the law, the impunity of the culprits, the disinformation of the press, the embarrassment of local politicians and the silence of the international community."
Cardinal Bagnasco said that "only the voice of the Pope has been raised" against these crimes.
He also mentioned the persecutions being endured in Pakistan, and the "Calvary" of Iraq, where two more Christians were killed in recent days.
Cardinal Bagnasco reminded Christians of their duty to pray and to show their solidarity with those suffering persecution: "In the Church no one is a foreigner; if one member suffers, all members suffer with him."
And the cardinal appealed to politicians, intellectuals and public opinion to again pay "attention to the topic of religious liberty, which is the cornerstone of civilization and of the rights of man, and the guarantee of genuine pluralism and true democracy."
"Religious liberty is not something optional that states grant to the most persistent citizens, or a paternalist concession that harks back to the principle of tolerance," he said. Rather, it is "the bulwark of liberties and ultimate criterion for safeguarding them."
Finally, Cardinal Bagnasco warned there is a risk that so-called Christian-phobia will reach Europe itself as "the practice of relativism, anti-religious and anti-Christian excesses and the ethical and cultural regression of society demonstrate."
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Holy See: Africa Needs to Take Reins of Progress
Prelate Urges Allowing Sense of Ownership
NEW YORK, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- It is time to allow and encourage Africans to take a sense of ownership in leading the development of their continent, says the Holy See.
Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, affirmed this Monday in an address to a U.N. high-level plenary meeting on the theme: "Africa's Development Needs: State of Implementation of Various Commitments, Challenges and the Way Forward."
"The successes achieved in the consolidation of independence, the overcoming of the ideological conflicts of the 20th century, the abolition of apartheid, and more recently the strengthening of the African Union and many other regional structures of cooperation, are a sign of hope for the potential of Africa," the prelate said. "It is now high time to allow and encourage an African sense of ownership in leading a sustained and sustainable developmental process that frees all the peoples of Africa from the scourge of extreme poverty."
Archbishop Migliore said the development of Africa is an opportunity for the whole world. He noted how it is the "youngest" continent, with 60% of its population under age 25.
Lauding recent economic growth in Africa, the Holy See representative nevertheless affirmed that "clearly there is still a long way to go in improving the health of the people of Africa."
Firsthand reports
Archbishop Migliore noted that the role of the Church in Africa's development has been and continues to be key. Drawing from the Church's firsthand experience, the prelate said "the Holy See encourages the participants in this high-level meeting to continue efforts to adapt the development programs to the reality of Africa and achieve an authentic partnership in which African countries are not simply a receiver of ideas and aids programmed from the outside, but a true agent of their own development."
He added: "The present difficulties in reaching a world-wide consensus on international trade rules could serve as an impetus to re-launch a special round for Africa and for the [Least Developed Countries], with the scope of strengthening regional trade and an appropriate way of inserting it into the international context, thus giving a substantial contribution to the reform of African structures of production.
"The purpose of a painstakingly planned and implemented international financial and commercial environment for Africa should be twofold: firstly, the creation of sufficient and productive urban employment for the young population of Africa; secondly, the promotion of and investment in a sustainable family farming system capable of meeting the food requirements of the whole of rural and urban African population and able to contribute to the trade gains of its countries."
The prelate affirmed that African governments have a precious heritage on which to build, since "African cultures have a keen sense of solidarity and community life."
"At the same time," he said, "the preservation of African families and their cultural identity must be the ultimate objective of all economic plans of development and also the definitive measure of their effectiveness."
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NEWS BRIEFS
Cardinal Points to Faulty Logic in Abortion Bill
Notes Promoting Procedure Won't Reduce Its Frequency
WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- A proposed "Freedom of Choice Act" is not about freedom at all, says the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, pointed out the faulty logic in the proposed act in a letter Friday to all member of Congress.
The act "would deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA [the Freedom of Choice Act] would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. And FOCA would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government to reduce abortions in our country," the cardinal affirmed.
Cardinal Rigali warned that the act is not a mere codification of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize abortion. Instead, it would affect anti-abortion laws and policies that are in effect because they do not conflict with Roe v. Wade. These include such things as policies to protect women's safety, parental rights and informed consent.
"The operative language of FOCA is twofold," Cardinal Rigali explained. "First it creates a 'fundamental right' to abortion throughout the nine months of pregnancy, including a right to abort a fully developed child in the final weeks for undefined 'health' reasons. No government body at any level would be able to 'deny or interfere with' this newly created federal right.
"Second, it forbids government at all levels to 'discriminate' against the exercise of this right 'in the regulation or provision of benefits, facilities, services, or information.' For the first time, abortion on demand would be a national entitlement that government must condone and promote in all public programs affecting pregnant women."
The prelate included a legal analysis of FOCA's possible consequences with his letter to Congress.
"Members of both parties have sought to reach a consensus on ways to reduce abortions in our society," wrote Cardinal Rigali. "However, there is one thing absolutely everyone should be able to agree on: We can't reduce abortions by promoting abortion. [...] No one who sponsors or supports legislation like FOCA can credibly claim to be part of a good-faith discussion on how to reduce abortions."
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On the Net:
Letter to Congress: www.usccb.org/prolife/FOCArigaliltr.pdf.
Legal analysis: www.usccb.org/prolife/FOCAanalysis.pdf.
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INTERVIEW
40 Days Revive Hope for Life (Part 1)
Interview With National Campaign Director David Bereit
By Genevieve Pollock
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia, SEPT. 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The question pro-life activist David Bereit is asking these days is not if abortion will end, but when it will end.
Bereit is the national campaign director of 40 Days for Life, a campaign he says has inspired hope that a culture of life is possible.
The campaign begins Wednesday, and will unite pro-life advocates all over the United States, and two cities in Canada, to pray, fast and work together through Nov. 2, the Sunday that precedes the U.S. election day.
In Part 1 of this interview with ZENIT, Bereit comments on how the campaign works, and how it is helping to rejuvenate the pro-life movement.
Part 2 of this interview will be published Wednesday.
Q: Could you give us a brief overview of the 40 Days for Life program, and explain how it works?
Bereit: 40 Days for Life is a very focused, 40-day intensive pro-life campaign that has as its mission an effort to end abortion peacefully and prayerfully in the community, ultimately throughout our nation and throughout our world.
Three things are done for a period of 40 days. The first component is that in the local community we call upon believers to join together in prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. Our prayer is based on the belief that with God all things are possible.
We are not going to win the struggle against abortion on purely human terms. It is not going to be decided purely by the Supreme Court, who is in the White House or who is in Congress.
Ultimately, it is with God that an end to abortion is possible.
The other part of this, the fasting, is very important. I was raised in a Christian tradition that did not emphasize fasting, but when I read Scripture I realized that it talked about how there are some demons that can only be driven out through prayer and fasting. I thought that maybe this is something that we need to do specifically: fasting with the intention of ending abortion.
We have had people do everything from a very significant bread-and-water fast for 40 days, but for most people it means giving up a meal each day or giving up a certain type of food or drink.
One family gave up television for 40 days and said, "We are going to put all of that time that we usually spend in front of the tube into pro-life work." I thought to myself how that would really change our nation if everyone who was pro-life would do that as well.
The second component is the constant, peaceful prayer vigil that is held outside of an abortion facility or Planned Parenthood office. Essentially it draws community awareness to the injustice that is happening at that abortion center.
It also sends a message to those who work at the center, in a very peaceful and loving way, that what they are doing is detrimental to women, detrimental to the community, and that it is not supported by the Church in their community.
The participants are also there to reach out in a compassionate way to those pregnant mothers who are in crisis and do not know where else to turn, to offer them better alternatives that do not imply a lifetime of regrets. So, there is this aspect of 40 days of, in many cases, 24-hour, daily, round-the-clock prayer vigils outside of these facilities.
The third component, then, is grassroots educational outreach. This implies taking a pro-life message to community groups, churches and schools. In many communities, including the site of the very first 40 Days for Life campaign, this went along with a door-to-door outreach that reached 25,000-30,000 homes in the 40-day period.
We engage the media, both the religious outlets as well as the secular media outlets, so as to make sure that those who do not drive by the facility to see the prayer vigil, or those who do not go to a church on Sunday, still get the message.
We spread the message that life is sacred, that it is worth protecting, and that there is hope that we can rebuild, as Pope John Paul II said, a "culture of life" in our nation again. Thus we have prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil, and grassroots outreach all done through a focused 40-day period of time.
Q: How do you encourage the participants to reach out to people who have had abortions?
Bereit: Actually, last week in our training with the 174 campaign leaders we focused on reaching out to post-abortive mothers and fathers, especially in the time immediately after they have had an abortion, when it finally begins to hit them and they say to themselves, "What have I just done?"
We encouraged reaching out to those who have been carrying the pain of abortion for years and have been unable to find healing and forgiveness. We have partnered with wonderful ministries like Rachel's Vineyard, Project Rachel, Silent No More Awareness, and Abortion Recovery International Network.
Amazingly, more than half of the campaigns that we have had to date have been led by post-abortive women who have been the leaders for these campaigns because they have gone through these types of healing programs and have benefited from them.
They want this 40 Days for Life to reach out to other people who are at risk of making that same decision that for them turned into so many emotional, psychological and spiritual regrets down the road. Everything is done in a peaceful, loving, compassionate way during this campaign.
We have seen enormous surges of people who have come out of the woodwork in the communities where 40 Days for Life has been done, and they say, "A year ago, five years ago, 30 years ago, I had an abortion and it has still been bothering me."
Many times some of those people that go through the post-abortive healing become some of the most incredible advocates for life, and are able to share their testimonies to help people realize that, yes, abortion destroys the life of an innocent child made in God's image and likeness, but also it is devastating to women.
They can say: "I've been there. I've done that. I've felt the pain." And that is a very compelling message. We embrace their message. We welcome those who have had abortions to participate in this campaign.
Q: As you do your outreach, what have you found to be the reaction of the public, from both pro-abortion and pro-life groups?
Bereit: We are continually amazed. This campaign has now been done in 139 cities and 43 states, and is being organized in 179 cities for the campaign beginning this month. In that time, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
The pro-life community has been incredibly rejuvenated in those cities where a campaign has been done. We see people from pregnancy resource centers, right-to-life groups, parish respect life committees, diocesan respect life offices, and post-abortive ministries all come together in a common focus for a 40-day period of time.
When I travel around to the different states that have done this campaign, and I look into the eyes of the people that have participated, many of them first-time volunteers for pro-life work, I have seen such incredible hope.
People have told me, "After 35 years of legalized abortion in America, I had begun to despair. I had begun to think that we could never have any part in ending this. But now I have cause for hope."
I realized that it is not a matter of if abortion ends. It is a matter of when abortion ends.
Regarding the abortion industry as a whole, I am amazed that during the first campaign that was held nationally last fall, even Planned Parenthood gave us attention. They set up an entire Web site, and an entire fundraising campaign around the 40 Days for Life. They talked about how they were under siege. They are very concerned.
I am amazed still to date that as an organization we have grown so much. I work out of a little corner of my bedroom. We have a tiny little budget.
This was just an idea a year and a few months ago. Yet here today God has spread this to over 200 cities now collectively, and inspired hope all over the nation.
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On the Net:
40 Days for Life: www.40daysforlife.com/about.cfm
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New Book Skewers Moral Relativism
Interview With Author Father Thomas Williams
ROME, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The conscience is not like a referee that blows a whistle every time we step out of bounds, but rather like a coach that gives us the guidance we need to succeed, says the author of a new book on discerning right from wrong.
This week saw the release of Legionary of Christ Father Thomas D. Williams' new book "Knowing Right From Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience."
ZENIT spoke with Father Williams, who is Vatican analyst for CBS News and professor of theology and ethics at Rome's Regina Apostolorum university, about what the conscience really is and how it is misunderstood today.
Q: Why this book, and why now?
Father Williams: This book is more necessary now than ever before. If ever our society needed greater moral clarity, it is now.
The two major errors concerning conscience -- conscience as infallible, unimpeachable guide and conscience as a mere vestige of Freudian superego -- are even more prevalent today than they were 30 years ago.
Q: Care to explain these errors in a bit more depth for the uninitiated?
Father Williams: Many today appeal to conscience as the final arbiter of good and evil. By this view of conscience, good and evil do not exist outside of our moral judgment, but are created by it. What I sincerely judge to be good and right becomes good and right because of that judgment. Sincerity is all that matters. By this logic, it makes no sense to try to tell someone else what is good or right, even, for example, if you are the Church's magisterium. In the end, conscience would not apply an objective moral law that stands above it, but would supplant the moral law. Conscience would trump everything.
While this first error overvalues conscience, making it into an infallible god, accountable only to itself, the second error undervalues conscience, placing it among the undesirable and irrational remnants of an earlier stage of humanity's moral evolution. The theory makes of conscience an echo of parental and societal prohibitions, which needs not to be obeyed but to be "tamed" and governed by the ego.
Q: All of this sounds a little heady. Can laypeople understand what you have written, or is this a book for professional ethicists only?
Father Williams: I apologize for the academic tone. Actually the book is written in straightforward English for the general public. It explains the notion of morality from the ground up, with stories and examples to help the headier ideas to sink in.
Q: Did the upcoming presidential election motivate you to write the book?
Father Williams: Obviously moments of important decisions, such as elections, furnish a golden opportunity to rethink our ideas about conscience. But actually I had been intending to write this book for a long time. Pope John Paul II in his masterful 1993 encyclical on the moral life, "Veritatis Splendor," lamented the modern disconnect between freedom and truth. He affirmed in the strongest of terms the necessity of reasserting the existence of moral truth against a creeping relativism.
And few will forget the powerful homily given by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on the eve of his own election as Pope in April 2005, where he declared that today "we are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires."
My own conscience was prodding me to write a book that both dismantles relativism at the root and provides a clear, constructive approach to understanding and forming conscience.
Q: So this book is primarily about correcting errors and combating relativism?
Father Williams: I wouldn't say that is the main point of the book, though I do address these issues. The real aim of the book is to show the beauty of the moral life as a call not simply to "obey the rules," but to live a supremely good and happy life according to God's plan.
We tend to reduce the moral life to a list of prohibitions and obligations. But that's a mistake. As Christians we are called to moral excellence, and not merely to the avoidance of evil. The wonderful thing is, this moral excellence coincides with the deepest human joy. God only asks us for things that are truly good for us. His commandments are not arbitrary but reflect the truth of the human person and our most profound aspirations to freedom, goodness and love.
Q: In this regard, you employ an analogy from athletics, and claim that conscience is more a "coach" than a "referee." Can you explain that?
Father Williams: Depending on how we view the moral life, our view of conscience and its role also changes. If the moral life is made up of rules, then conscience is only a bothersome referee, blowing his whistle when we step outside our boundaries or commit some foul. At best, conscience would be a necessary evil, but hardly a friend or ally.
If, on the other hand, we understand the moral life as the pursuit of moral excellence, then conscience becomes much more than a referee; it becomes a coach. Conscience urges us toward personal moral excellence, not merely toward the avoidance of evil. Just as a coach helps us to play better, and fine-tunes our athletic qualities, so too conscience pushes us to be everything we are called to be. This is a much more positive -- and accurate --description of the role that conscience should play in the life of a Christian.
In the end, conscience is a precious gift that God gives us to help guide us through life. It becomes the voice of God himself in our interior, inviting us, inspiring us, and impelling us toward moral greatness.
Q: The table of contents indicates that you deal with conscientious objection. We normally associate this with a moral objection to armed conflict. Is this what you mean?
Father Williams: This is certainly one of the possible situations where conscientious objection can come up, but the concept is much broader than this. Whenever we are pushed to do something that we know is morally wrong, we have an obligation to resist. This is called conscientious objection.
Usually this refers to resisting an order from a superior, or to choosing to disobey an unjust law, when it orders us to do something evil. It was St. Peter who said, "We must obey God rather than human authority" when ordered by the Jewish officials of his day to stop preaching about Jesus Christ (Acts 5:29). Typical examples of this nowadays can be found in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, where health care personnel are sometimes asked to participate in immoral activities such as abortion or the distribution of contraceptives.
In a still broader sense, conscientious objection can even mean going against the grain by bucking certain fashionable trends that would pressure us into doing evil or discourage evangelization. Here, too, conscience must be obeyed rather than the authority of popular opinion.
Q: What about when conscience differs from Church teaching?
Father Williams: There is much confusion in this area. Church teaching refers not to the imposition of one person's will over another's, but the continuation of Christ's mission as authentic teacher of the truth. This includes moral truth. Catholics are obliged to form their consciences according to this teaching.
Usually when a Catholic's moral criteria diverge from magisterial teaching, the problem lies at the level of faith. We stop believing in the Church and the divine guidance that Christ promised, and instead start valuing public opinion and our own personal judgment more than magisterial teaching.
The Church's moral teaching is reasonable, but that doesn't mean that everyone understands it immediately, or spontaneously comes to the same moral judgment that the Church does. But it is precisely here that the gift of the magisterium shines in all its splendor. When moral questions are obvious, we really have no need for a magisterium. It is when good people disagree and confusion reigns that the magisterium shows its true worth. But believers must be willing to be taught; otherwise the magisterium would be just another opinion in the marketplace of ideas, and we would cease to be Catholics except in name.
Q: You end the book with a discussion of moral dilemmas and how to resolve them. How does this work?
Father Williams: Here we must remember that many things that we call moral dilemmas are really just situations where doing the right thing is difficult. Doing good often means suffering unpleasant consequences, and this is tough for all of us. But it isn't a moral dilemma. It requires virtues such as courage, willpower and integrity, but our choice is clear.
In the true sense, a moral dilemma involves a doubt at the level of conscience. We truly don't know what the right thing to do is. These situations are not common, but they do occur, and here we need guidance to be able to choose well.
Fortunately God has provided sources of moral instruction to help us choose well even in tough situations. We have God's word, including the Ten Commandments and a closer familiarity with Christ and his moral criteria. We have the natural law, the unwritten expression of God's eternal law on the human heart. We also have Church teaching, which proves especially important for the resolution of moral dilemmas. All in all, for the Christian who truly wants to do what is right, reliable answers are available.
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On the Net:
Knowing Right From Wrong:
www.amazon.com/Knowing-Right-Wrong-Christian-Conscience/dp/0446582018/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207737113&sr=1-4.
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LITURGY
Churches Dedicated and Consecrated
And More on Complications of 2 Forms in 1 Rite
ROME, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: I would like to know if a church that was "dedicated" but not "consecrated" according to the Tridentine rite in 1923 may now be retrofitted with the consecration candles, since there is no distinction between dedication and consecration in the new rite. -- G.P., El Dorado, Arkansas
A: I would first like to clarify the terms. I believe that the earlier version of the Roman Pontifical did not distinguish so much between "dedication" and "consecration" as between "consecration" and "blessing" (either solemn or simple).
However, it was quite common to refer to the blessing of a church as its "dedication," and this probably originated some misunderstandings with respect to present terminology.
The present version of the Ceremonial of Bishops no longer mentions consecration but rather distinguishes between the dedication and blessing of a church.
The fundamental ceremonies formerly ascribed to the rite of consecration are now undertaken in the rite of dedication, albeit in a simplified form. Thus, rather than a union of two rites, we are before a change in terminology to describe the same rite.
Something similar happened in other rites. The liturgical books now speak of "episcopal ordination" and not "episcopal consecration" as did the former books.
The rite of blessing a church still exists. If for some good reason a new church cannot be dedicated ("consecrated"), it should at least be blessed before use. Also, private oratories, chapels and sacred buildings only temporarily set aside for sacred worship should be blessed rather than dedicated. This rite of blessing is carried out either by the diocesan bishop or a priest specifically delegated by him.
Thus, only buildings that are built to serve permanently as houses of worship may be formally dedicated.
From what we have said, I think that what happened in the above-mentioned church in 1923 was probably a solemn blessing and not, strictly speaking, a dedication or consecration.
The purpose of the consecration crosses and candles is to mark the spots where the walls are anointed during the rite of dedication. This practice of permanently marking the anointing is no longer obligatory, but the Ceremonial of Bishops (No. 874) still recommends keeping this "ancient custom" of hanging either 12 or four crosses and candles on the walls, depending on the number of anointings.
Since the walls of the church in question were never anointed, it makes little sense to retrofit the crosses and candles to symbolize a rite that never occurred.
The fact that a church is blessed rather than dedicated makes no difference with respect to the ceremonies that may be performed within it. For this reason, once it has passed into general use a blessed church is not dedicated.
There are some cases, however, in which the norms allow for the rite of dedication to be carried out in an undedicated church already in general use. There are two principal requirements that must be fulfilled in order for this to happen (Ceremonial of Bishops, No. 916):
-- That the altar has not already been dedicated (or consecrated) for it is forbidden to dedicate a church without dedicating the altar.
-- That there be something new or notably altered about the edifice, for example, after major renovations, or a change in its juridical status (e.g., a former chapel being ranked as a parish church).
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Follow-up: Complications of 2 Forms in 1 Rite
Pursuant to our reply on the difficulties of combining both ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman rite (see Sept. 9), we received some very interesting comments and clarifications.
First of all, several readers, using different sources, confirmed that it is legitimate for an instituted acolyte to fulfill the duties of the subdeacon. The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei officially confirmed this disposition in Protocol 24/92 published on June 7, 1993.
Several sources pointed out that even before the reform the subdeacon could be substituted with a seminarian who had received first tonsure (admission as candidate or religious profession in the present system), if there were insufficient ministers present for a solemn high Mass.
This substitute subdeacon does not wear the biretta or maniple. Nor is he allowed to perform those functions that involve touching or purifying the chalice.
A Belgian reader questioned the practice of using priests to serve as other ministers. He writes: "In your discussion in your column dated Sept. 9 you refer to a practice in the Roman rite which has persisted for several centuries -- and even in some places till today. That is, having men ordained as priests (or even bishops) dressing and acting in a liturgical celebration as if they were in a 'lower order.' This seems to be, despite the constant usage in some places and circumstances, a serious abuse of the sacrament of orders.
"To use an example, to ask a priest to act and dress as a deacon and/or a subdeacon is like asking a butterfly to act as a caterpillar or even as a chrysalis. It is obvious that there is a certain continuity in the individual butterfly from one stage to another 'more-developed' stage -- but to 'go backward' is impossible. I am well aware of the arguments which are used in the Roman rite to justify the usage, but it still seems to be 'stretching the theology' of the sacrament, practically, beyond recognition of the true separation of the orders. It should be added that this practice is unknown in our sister Churches in the Eastern half of Christianity.
"My question beyond stating the 'facts on the ground' is: Why is this (seemingly abusive) practice still permitted, and even encouraged in some quarters, within the Roman rite?"
This is a very interesting question. I would be very hesitant to use the term "abuse" for a custom that was and is still practiced in the extraordinary form.
Its use in the ordinary form is for all practical purposes limited to the occasional use of two cardinal deacons serving the pope in some solemn ceremonies.
Otherwise, a priest, even if he sometimes substitutes a deacon, never wears a dalmatic. A bishop sometimes wears a dalmatic under the chasuble as a sign of the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders.
I would suggest that the use of priests to undertake the other clerical roles in a solemn Mass arose historically as a practical solution to a real difficulty.
Unlike the Eastern Churches, the diaconate and subdiaconate disappeared as permanent ministries in the Latin Church after a few centuries and were imparted only to candidates for the priesthood who exercised the office for only brief periods of time.
Nevertheless, the liturgical functions performed by these orders were considered as necessary to the solemn celebration of Mass.
If we keep in mind that concelebrations had also become practically extinct in the Latin rite, then the combination of a lack of available deacons and subdeacons, together with a surplus of non-celebrating priests, led quite naturally to the priest's taking up the role of these ministers.
At the beginning having priests fulfill these roles was probably not seen as adding solemnity to the rite, but as the practice grew it quite likely came to be seen in this light. In some cases, such as papal and episcopal Masses, serving as deacon and subdeacon even became something of a privilege reserved to high-ranking prelates.
Among arguments that could justify the custom would be the principle that he who can do more can also do the less. The butterfly analogy is not entirely adequate for although there is continuity between the different stages, the break is not quite as radical as when the butterfly leaves the chrysalis behind.
Thus even though the deacon has his proper place in the hierarchy and represents, among other elements, the gift of service in the Church, this aspect is not extinguished if the deacon later becomes a priest; rather, it is assumed in his new role.
That said, however, our reader has a genuine ecclesiological point. In the liturgy it is best that each order fulfill its proper liturgical role whenever possible as this best reflects the Church as an assembly in hierarchical communion. This is probably one reason why the fact that the ministries of deacon and subdeacon were habitually carried out by priests is almost never formally acknowledged in the Roman Missal. At best we can find an occasional, indirect recognition of the situation on the ground in some norms and decrees from the Congregation of Rites. For example, there is the norm that says if one of the ministers is a priest and the other a deacon, then the deacon fulfills the office of deacon and the priest that of subdeacon (1886 Ceremonial of Bishops 1, XXVI; Decree 668 of the recompilation "Decreta Authentica" of the Sacred Congregation of Rites). This norm also serves to show the importance of each minister carrying out his proper role.
The practical difficulty of the unavailability of specific ministers persists in the extraordinary form and it is probably necessary to continue using priests as ministers if solemn Mass in the extraordinary form is ever to be celebrated outside of monasteries and seminaries. A permanent solution to this difficulty would probably require some fairly major changes such as instituting the permanent diaconate for this form also.
Any such proposal would be premature at present but might not be excluded in the long term. It is to be hoped that the habitual presence of both forms will eventually bring out the best in both of them.
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Readers may send questions to liturgy@zenit.org. Please put the word "Liturgy" in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
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DOCUMENTS
Holy See on Africa's Development
"Clearly There Is Still a Long Way To Go"
NEW YORK, SEPT. 23, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Here is the text of the address delivered Monday by by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at the U.N. meeting on Africa's development needs.
* * *
Mr President,
Africa has always played an important role in the various challenges taken up every year by the General Assembly of the United Nations. For the last 60 years Africa, with its historical and geographic particularities, has challenged the capacity of the United Nations to carry out the high ideals enshrined in its Charter of peace and prosperity for all. Recent history has also witnessed the capacity of African governments to harmonize their wide array of interests and local needs, their great cultural diversity and the special geographic and climatic challenges with the need to coordinate a common response to the serious problems that affect without distinction the entire continent.
The successes achieved in the consolidation of independence, the overcoming of the ideological conflicts of the twentieth century, the abolition of apartheid, and more recently the strengthening of the African Union and many other regional structures of cooperation, are a sign of hope for the potential of Africa. It is now high time to allow and encourage an African sense of ownership in leading a sustained and sustainable developmental process that frees all the peoples of Africa from the scourge of extreme poverty.
The Holy See commends this very timely meeting aimed at taking stock of the implementation of various commitments put forward by the international community as well as the efforts being undertaken at the national level throughout Africa.
My delegation expresses its appreciation for the Report of the Secretary-General. The Holy See echoes the Report's call for concrete action and believes that delivery must be the principal result at the international, regional and national levels. The political Declaration constitutes an effective guide for such concrete action if accompanied by the political will to put its aspirations into practice.
The development of Africa is a great opportunity for the whole world given its human resources and unique climatic and cultural diversity. Africa is the "youngest" of continents with sixty percent of its population under 25. In a number of African countries growth has kept pace with and even surpassed that of developed nations. Such growth, substantiated in the Report of the Secretary-General, is due not only to the improvement of the terms of exchange of raw materials but also to a generalized improvement in methods of government.
In spite of this, however, the recent economic growth has not been sufficient to free from extreme poverty large segments of the population of Africa, and the average life expectancy remains one of the lowest in the world. Clearly there is still a long way to go in improving the health of the people of Africa.
Mr President,
My delegation is privileged to outline here the day-to-day experiences of many communities of the Catholic Church present throughout the continent, even in its remotest corners, that share the burdens as well as the joys and achievements of many Africans. In the fight against HIV/AIDS as well as in the fields of education and health, the Catholic Church remains in the forefront both in terms of the extension of its network of solidarity and the quality of its programmes.
Strengthened by this experience, the Holy See encourages the participants in this High-Level meeting to continue efforts to adapt the development programs to the reality of Africa and achieve an authentic partnership in which African countries are not simply a receiver of ideas and aids programmed from the outside, but a true agent of their own development.
The present difficulties in reaching a world-wide consensus on international trade rules could serve as an impetus to re-launch a special round for Africa and for the LDCs, with the scope of strengthening regional trade and an appropriate way of inserting it into the international context, thus giving a substantial contribution to the reform of African structures of production.
The purpose of a painstakingly planned and implemented international financial and commercial environment for Africa should be twofold: firstly, the creation of sufficient and productive urban employment for the young population of Africa; secondly, the promotion of and investment in a sustainable family farming system capable of meeting the food requirements of the whole of rural and urban African population and able to contribute to the trade gains of its countries.
The increasing integration of NEPAD into the structures of the African Union is a very positive sign of progress in African ownership of its own development.
African cultures have a keen sense of solidarity and community life. Such a precious heritage is an asset on which the Governments and African society should build in order to obtain effective results. At the same time, the preservation of African families and their cultural identity must be the ultimate objective of all economic plans of development and also the definitive measure of their effectiveness.
Today let us leave this Hall with the hope that this High-Level meeting will be one more step along the road of shared responsibility in attaining this noble objective.
Thank you, Mr President.
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