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September 2012

September 1

Mission: Apostle

September 1, 2012

This article was amended on Sept. 26, 2012 to remove a quote attributed to Fr. Carlos Martins. TORONTO - York University students now have the option of a new extracurricular activity: Catholic campus evangelization. York’s Catholic chaplaincy launched Apostles on Mission this summer, a six-session program designed to teach students how to minister at the university. Planned and run by chaplain Fr. Carlos Martins and associate pastor Fr. Ben St. Croix, the program targets “the more spiritually mature students,” Martins said. But the invitation remains open and any student is free to join. These student evangelizers “are going to minister on campus and be an extension of the Catholic chaplaincy in the hallways and in the corridors,” Martins said. The curriculum covered the Catholic Church’s teaching on evangelization, what exactly evangelization is, why evangelize, whom to evangelize and elements of how to pray. Misconceptions of the Catholic Church and how to defend the faith were included. The sessions also covered effective ways to give a testimony and how to start a conversation with a stranger. It’s about “how to approach somebody in a situation where you don’t know the person and to do so in a way that makes the person you’re approaching comfortable and feel safe,” Martins said. “We (Martins and St. Croix) are members of the Companions of the Cross. This is our bread and butter.” York has about 55,000 students. Its main Keele campus is where the Apostles on Mission will volunteer a minimum of two to four hours a week, but Martins promises that the skills learned through the sessions can be applied anywhere. This month, the Apostles on Mission will begin to to provide Catholic resources and provide information on what the chaplaincy has to offer. The students also have the option of running Bible studies. “We’re trying to make people aware that there is something here that is being offered that they may appreciate and desire,” said Martins. He does not want people to be treated as potential converts, with their individuality disregarded as a result. The plan is “we’re throwing seed out,” said Martins. “Undergirding our belief here at the chaplaincy is the belief of the Church that God has prepared the hearts of those who will receive His message to respond to Him.” The sixth session took place on Aug. 23 and allowed participants to practise their conversion story or testimony. Lolita Akimana was looking for a Catholic student group when she joined the chaplaincy at York. She has been to two Apostles on Mission sessions. She is unsure how she is going to approach students, but feels ready to share the word of God. In her conversion story or testimony, she spoke about growing up in the African country of Burundi. “I used to go to church with friends, but I didn’t really know God,” she said. She has four siblings and her father died before she was born. Akimana asked Jesus to be her father and He provided, she said. For her, God no longer seems abstract. Akimana’s testimony, said Martins, is an example of Christ filling a need in one person’s life. Martins anticipates the student evangelizers will face two main challenges: time and lack of confidence. The pressures of school leave students little free time, he acknowledged. And though he’s never encountered hostility on campus in the year that he’s worked at York, evangelizers will need self-assurance to help them deal with any hostility or potentially bad experiences. “They’ll come away learning about themselves and learning about the faith,” Martins said. The main Apostles on Mission sessions have been recorded with the hope of making them available to students as a training program. And interest from students who were unable to be on campus during the summer has Martins interested in training more students during the academic year. “Students have risen to the challenge,” he said.

Letter writing campaign aims to redefine a ‘human being’

September 1, 2012

Alexandra Jezierski is hoping to enlist the help of 100,000 letter writers to influence Prime Minster Stephen Harper and members of Parliament to support a motion that would open debate on when an unborn child becomes a human being. The Grade 12 student from Kingsville, Ont. began her Letters4Life campaign in support of Motion-312, Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s private member’s motion to open a debate on when a human life really begins. “We’re hoping it (Motion-312) will help Canada to recognize the humanity of our unborn children,” Jezierski said. The goal is to send 100,000 letters to the prime minister and MPs asking them to vote in favour of Woodworth’s motion. The letters are tracked online where visitors to the Letters4Life web site can input the number of letters they have sent. By late August, the online letter count was just above 58,000. Visitors to Jezierski’s site can also choose from two available letter templates: one specifically for Motion-312, the other asking the prime minister to re-open the abortion debate. Jezierski has higher hopes for the effectiveness of the former. “When Motion-312 came up, I realized that it’s easier to ask our government to do something in increments,” said Jezierski, “and asking them to support Motion-312 is a lot easier than asking them to end abortion.” She was inspired by a pro-life letter-writing effort by the Teenage Life Club in the United States, a group of high school girls attempting to have one million letters sent to the U.S. government by November in their Stand Up for Life Campaign. The second hour of debate on Motion-312 will be held on Sept. 21, the first Friday after Parliament resumes for the fall session. The Letters4Life deadline is Sept. 26, when the vote on Motion-312 is expected to be held. Woodworth put the private member’s motion forth earlier this year. “I think that many people think it’s going to solve the abortion question, and it certainly won’t do that,” Woodworth told The Catholic Register. Motion-312 is meant to create a committee that will focus on scientific evidence and testimony of medical professionals on the development of a child in the womb. For example, “neurologists can testify about the point at which a child’s brain function can be recorded,” said Woodworth. “An anatomist can talk about the development of a child’s organs and limbs before birth.” Currently, subsection 223(1) of Canada’s Criminal Code says a child becomes a human being only after birth. “My goal and deep abiding belief is that no civilized country, including Canada, should tolerate a law like subsection 223(1), which dehumanizes and excludes and condemns any class of person,” Woodworth said. He had the motion delayed when his mother fell ill last May. “When the vote came up in June, I didn’t feel quite capable of proceeding with the second hour of debate,” he said. Woodworth’s mother died in late August, but he’s expecting to be able to proceed with the motion as presently scheduled. Woodworth is not surprised that youth have supported Motion-312. “This is an issue which does tend to engage idealism and thank goodness youth possess idealism,” he said. Jezierski said the numbers of youth who have rallied behind her campaign is “unbelievable.” She and her peers also host letter-writing parties, where they meet their goal for the event, 100 letters for example, while listening to pro-life music. There is a core of about 10 Letters4Life members and their main goal is to involve churches and write to bishops. Jezierski cites six bishops as her supporters. Though she is Catholic and so are most of the campaign supporters, she said Letters4Life has multi-faith support. “I’m grateful for Alexandra’s support and the support of the many thousands of people across Canada who share with me a desire to see an unjust law at least looked at and discussed,” Woodworth said. However, he does not want to set parameters on the discussion. “I genuinely want people to look at this with open minds and hearts.” Whether the motion passes, Woodworth’s advice for Jezierski is, “Canadians at large should understand that no important issue rises or falls on a single vote in the House of Commons.” In her anti-abortion campaign and in support for Motion-312, Jezierksi has met with hostility online. She said pro-choice supporters threatened her team with “cannibalism and death” over Facebook. “Unborn children, it’s their lives that we are fighting for, so whatever inconveniences arise, it just makes us more passionate because we know that the unborn children, they’re the most important.”

September 2

Renaissance revealed at Art Gallery of Ontario this spring

September 2, 2012

TORONTO - Christian artists over the past couple of millennia have understood you can paint a picture about God but you can’t paint God. In Florence in the first half of the 14th century artists discovered a whole new way of talking about God — new techniques, new subject matter, new insights which taken together became the Italian Renaissance. This spring the Art Gallery of Ontario invites us into Florence in the decades before 1348 — the year the black plague wiped out 60 per cent of the population. “Revealing the Renaissance: Art in Early Florence” will bring together altar pieces and manuscripts directly from Florentine churches, the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the AGO. Co-produced by the AGO and the Getty, this major new exhibition runs March 16 to June 16, 2013. “The show is irreducibly about faith,” said AGO curator Sasha Suda. “The stories of the Christian faith are certainly being told in the works of art and that’s certainly important to many people. That will speak to them. That will be crucial to them in the experience of the show.” The Italian Renaissance, more than any other art movement, stocked the shelves of Christian imagination in the West with images of what angels, the Blessed Virgin, Jesus and the saints are supposed to look like. Our mental pictures of heaven, hell and purgatory were first painted in Florence. This art was a clear break from the static, two-dimensional, flat images of previous centuries. From the late 1200s to the mid-13th century there was a revolution taking place in Florentine workshops fueled by new money, culture wars, globalizing trade and easy credit. It was, said Suda, an age of anxiety and an age of possibility. “It’s a show about faith in art to communicate anxieties, fears, hopes and most of all desire,” she said. The mendicant orders, first Dominicans and then Franciscans, had been established more than a century earlier. By the beginning of the 14th century the orders were a force throughout Europe. In Florence they were each building a major basilica. The Dominicans were erecting Santa Maria Novella at one end of the city and the Franciscans had Santa Croce at the other. “They are kind of in this competition with each other, with each putting their particular mendicant ways of life forward,” said Getty Museum curator Christine Sciacca. The friars had something to say about the ultimate purposes of wealth and power which stood in opposition to the corrupt, self-aggrandizing wealthy families of the city — the families that Dante Alighieri was skewering in the Divine Comedy, written in Florence in the years leading to Dante’s death in 1321. The mendicants were employing every artist they could find to carry their message. Giotto di Bondone, Bernardo Daddi, Pacino di Bonaguida and an army of others produced manuscripts, panel paintings, architectural designs and more for the new churches and for confraternities of lay people who attached themselves to the orders. The new art expressed the civic pride of Florentines who, thanks to trade across the Mediterranean with the emerging Ottoman Empire, were enjoying new wealth from expanding banking and textile industries. While the Florentines were certainly proud of their city and not averse to flaunting their wealth, they had doubts. What was all this money doing to their souls? How was this new wealth leading them toward or away from ultimate salvation? “With the mendicant orders, a really rich spiritual culture lives alongside and thrives alongside this more secularized practice and usage of religious art,” said Suda. The Franciscans and Dominicans became closely associated with humanism, the literary and philosophical movement at the base of the Renaissance. “(Humanism) is reflected in the art of the time, where instead of the gothic cathedrals where man was lost in the infinity of God we have an architecture based on human proportions,” said Dominican art historian Fr. Marius Zerafa in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “Instead of the symbolism of Byzantine art we have the representation of biblical events, lives of the saints and eventually portraits of men and women.” Franciscan and Dominican preachers urged people to enter the life of Christ by every means possible — from creche scenes assembled on hillsides to evocative preaching. They commissioned art with the same purpose. “You have people like Giotto... making the scenes much more believable, using three dimensions so you get sort of sucked into that scene, so you can imagine all the details happening right in that one scene,” said Sciacca. “It was a very visceral thing.” The literary precursor of Giotto’s paintings was the Meditationes de Vita Christi by Pseudo-Bonaventura, an anonymous Franciscan. “In the early 14th century people are way more interested in this idea that there could be a correlation between their own lives and Scripture,” said Suda. “That’s why you get the narrative painting taking off as well, because you could stand in front of these paintings and it becomes an experience of what was happening,” said Sciacca. Sciacca and Suda’s study of 14th-century Florence has mapped out a crucial link between manuscript illumination and larger panels painted for display in churches. Pacino di Bonaguida pioneered new techniques and materials that made their way into both miniature book illustrations and large paintings. From one age of anxiety to another, these 700-year-old works have power over 21st-century viewers, said Sciacca. “They’re just going to react to beauty, first of all,” she said. “But on top of that they’re going to know these stories by looking at these different scenes — just by looking.” These aren’t pictures just to be analysed by esthetic purists. They are part of the spiritual life of the Church. “A lot of these things are coming from churches where they still are in use. That’s going to be really interesting. They still live and breathe as religious objects.”

Unlocking miracles with Special Olympics

September 2, 2012

TORONTO - St. Brigid’s parish just north of Danforth Avenue in Toronto’s east end doesn’t just believe in miracles. They are witnessed there weekly. On Monday nights through the school year, St. Brigid’s invites the Special Olympics into the school gym, right next door to the church. Accompanied by Grade 8 student volunteers from St. Brigid’s Catholic School, an average of about a dozen Special Olympians and their parents play basketball, variations on tag and duck-duck-goose. It’s an hour-and-a-half of fun, but it’s serious fun. Intellectually disabled athletes as old as 12 and 13 have spoken their first words at Special Olympics, said coach and organizer Linda Ward. “It’s like something unlocked,” she said. “It’s very important for kids,” said Ariel Samuel-Charles’ mother Marina. “Ariel has Down’s Syndrome and it’s very important to keep her active.” The free program that allows 13-year-old Ariel to play and socialize comes as a welcome relief for Marina. “Most programs are very expensive,” she said. Horseback riding, basketball and weekly swimming lessons for Ariel eat up a big chunk of the family budget, but they’re still not enough, said Marina. Often the people who appreciate the miracles on the gym floor most are parents. “To see their kids laugh and having fun like everybody else, it’s like a vacation,” said Ward. “It’s all they want for their kids.” Lina Cornacchi has seen her son Luigi learn new words at the age of 41. The program improves his balance, his co-ordination and his mood. When asked why the parish should be involved in Special Olympics, Fr. Carlos Augustos Sierra Tobon just points to Luigi. On Sunday mornings after Mass, Luigi’s first question to Tobon is about Special Olympics. Every week he wants to be sure the program is on. “Luigi has learned new words and new games,” said Lina. “When he knows all the new people, he’s very happy.” The experience isn’t just new and exciting for the Special Olympians. Student volunteer Jack Kelly found the experience eye-opening. “I didn’t know what to expect. You learn patience, definitely,” said Kelly. “It’s a different experience. I’ve never been around kids like this before.” Without Special Olympics Geoffrey Fantaske’s life has a tendency to become much more narrow. “He’s all too happy to get on his little iPad 15 hours a day,” said Ward. Ward is really looking forward to this fall, when the St. Brigid’s Special Olympics program will go into its second year. Now she has a core of Special Olympians who have experienced the basics and may be ready to move on to more complex and competitive activities. “It will be immediate, that trust factor,” she said. Eventually the St. Brigid’s Special Olympians will have the opportunity to compete at regional, national and international Special Olympics.

September 3

Over-consumption of oil products, not the pipeline, is the real issue

September 3, 2012

It isn’t the construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline that raises great concern for Bishop Gary Gordon. Rather it is the perception that the pipeline is necessary in the first place. Gordon, bishop of the Whitehorse diocese, said the proposed pipeline symbolizes society’s relentless hunger for oil, and that worries him. “We’ve got a great problem with the sin of coveting and we export it all over the world,” said Gordon. “That’s kind of a root issue, we’re being driven by an insatiable need to have more but it’s not solving our deepest yearning and hungers.” Enbridge has been working on its pipeline proposal since the early 2000s but didn’t formally make a public announcement until 2006. The project currently aims to build a 1,177 km sub-surface pipeline from Bruderheim, Alta., to Kitimat, B.C., and its port on the Pacific Ocean. Since plans were announced, numerous parties have voiced environmental concerns, citing deforestation, wildlife habitat destruction and potential Pacific coast spills due to the treacherous waters near the port. The religious voice has not been silent either. Recently the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination at about three million strong, publicly opposed the pipeline expressing similar fears. And the Anglican bishops of British Columbia and the Yukon issued a statement questioning the integrity of the pipeline’s environmental impacts, while Presbyterians representing 28 parishes in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland also made their voice heard. They wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticizing the government for weakening environmental reviews, citing the same concerns as their United and Anglican brethren. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is still considering if it will release a public statement regarding the issue. The matter came up for discussion Aug. 22 when the CCCB executive met outside Calgary, but there has been no public comment to date. But there’s still a missing piece of the puzzle, said Gordon, and that makes things more problematic. “I don’t know if we (should be) taking a position of opposing it. We (should be) taking a position of let’s give this a longer second look and a longer view on the real outcomes for Canadians,” he said, hoping the CCCB takes this stance. “We need to check our consumption and figure out a more simple way of living.” Gordon’s not saying that we need to abandon every byproduct of the oil industry — he isn’t willing to give up his V8 4X4 Toyota Tundra and doesn’t expect anyone else in North America to ditch their ride. Rather, he’s suggesting that we re-evaluate how we use, and at what rate we consume, oil-based goods such as gasoline. It’s an idea wholeheartedly supported by Dennis Patrick O’Hara, director of the Elliot Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology, as well as an assistant professor of theology, at Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College. “We wouldn’t be needing some of these (pipelines) if people weren’t consuming so much and if people weren’t so wasteful with resources,” said O’Hara, adding that oil companies are not to blame. “We’re building this (pipeline) because we have a voracious appetite for this oil. That’s a part of the conversation that I’m not seeing or hearing.” According to Statistics Canada, the annual gross sale of gasoline rose by 1.5 per cent in 2011 to 42.1 billion litres, marking the third consecutive increase despite prices rising at the pumps for Canadians. This statistic highlights O’Hara’s, and Gordon’s, point that what is good for the economy is not always good for the environment — a point both men said is hard for Canadians to fully grasp. “We have a petroleum-based economy and that’s not going to be changed overnight,” said O’Hara. While profits are measured quarterly, the payoffs of environmentally friendly living aren’t truly seen for many years. “We’ve got a cultural mindset that is set against, it is contrary, to the very thinking that we need for the kind of issues that we have now,” said O’Hara. “With climate change you improve your behaviour and you’ll see the benefits about 35 years later. It’s not that if you behave well today things are going to be better tomorrow. “Things are actually going to get worse before we see the benefits and things getting better.” A necessary commitment to consumption reduction Gordon said will only be successful if parishioners, who are the consumers, have their parish’s support. “We’re shepherds of souls,” said the bishop. “The sacrifices of a simpler life are quite daunting for most of us.”

Brian Brown bridges three religions in new book launching

September 3, 2012

TORONTO - Faith is a difficult subject to bring up with our children, our own flesh and blood. How many of us would endure earnest talk of faith from friends? A combination of courage and psychopathology is necessary before most Christians can talk about faith with strangers. So, what chance does interfaith dialogue really have? Brian Brown is not so easily dissuaded. The United Church minister and prolific author is convinced all we need is the right starting point. “The most basic approach is to go to each others’ Scriptures,” he told The Catholic Register. “If we’re to understand what each other aspires to be, the place to begin is each others’ Scriptures.” That’s the premise behind Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel and Quran. Brown has assembled Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars to introduce modern, readable translations of the three texts. The scholars explain how the holy books of each community are used and understood within the faith they represent. In the 21st century the three Abrahamic faiths do not occupy separate patches of the globe, or even separate social spheres. The three major faiths of the West rub shoulders daily, and we have the wars to prove it. For Brown, getting past the dialogue of caricatures, suspicion, fear and resentment is a matter of life and death. “It’s an antidote to the burning of the Quran,” he said. It’s not just terror attacks in far off capitals, or sick minds blowing up cars and shooting up theatres, that has Brown concerned. Ordinary Christians, Muslims and Jews have all been touched by the toxic stew of interfaith ranting, slander and innuendo. “I had a person tell me they were a little afraid to go to the hospital in Niagara Falls because most of the doctors are Muslim. These are good, sensible Christian people who are influenced by those bomb makers and now need to hear from the Scripture authorities,” he said. “Eighty per cent of Christians — and I’m guessing 80 per cent of Muslims and Jews — are so negatively impacted by the bombers and bloggers that good, proper-thinking Christian people getting e-mails that are cockeyed develop strange notions about their Muslim neighbours or their Jewish neighbours.” David Bruce, a United Church minister for 25 years who is now the lay Catholic director of The Good Neighbours’ Club for homeless men in Toronto, introduces the Gospel in Three Testaments. With doctorates from California’s Fuller Theological Seminary and Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College, Bruce believes the Three Testaments approach works because it’s based on solid scholarship and aimed at ordinary, intelligent readers. “Anybody who picks up a National Geographic and enjoys the articles should be able to enjoy Three Testaments,” he said. It’s also successful because the book isn’t trying to cram three different religions into a single test tube of kind and fluffy thoughts. “There’s an increasingly large proportion of Western Christianity that says there really isn’t any difference in the world religions if you boil it all down,” said Bruce. “We’re not saying that. We’re saying that there are real differences but that doesn’t mean we can’t stand side by side and listen to one another.” The book is meant to be read by people of faith. It’s not an outsider’s sociological analysis of religion as a curious phenomenon among certain classes of people. “All of this is written by believers to believers of other faiths,” said Bruce. As such it’s the antidote to common distortions that hijack religion, said Brown. “Scriptures are abused and can be made to say things. This project is a joint project of Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars to run counter to that, to say, ‘Let the Scriptures speak for themselves.’ ” The book is as much a cause as it is literature. Brown wants it read in seminaries and on university campuses. The book launch will take place in seven cities, beginning at Ground Zero in New York. New York launch events include a Sept. 9 interfaith rally in St. Peter’s Church next door to Ground Zero. In Washington Sept. 10-12 during the thick of the presidential campaign the Three Testaments launch at the Canadian Embassy will feature ambassadors, religious leaders and Amir Hussain, editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion who wrote the foreword to Three Testaments. In Dallas-Fort Worth Sept. 12-13 the book will be presented to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. In Los Angeles Sept. 14-15 the launch brings together Christians, Jews and Muslims for Temple Beth Am’s Shabbat service. The Jesuit University of San Fransisco host the Abrahamic faiths for an event Sept. 16-18. Kazi Publications, the most important Muslim publisher in America, hosts the Chicago launch Sept. 19-20. Toronto gets its turn Sept. 23-30 at the Royal Ontario Museum. The book also has something to say to people who dismiss religious thinking or think religious people incapable of solving religious conflict, said Bruce. “There is a stereotype out there that anybody who is actually committed to one of the three great Western faiths has somehow parked at least a section of their brains — they’ve put it in neutral. That’s just not the case,” he said. “In fact, the best scholarship in all three religions is by those who actually practise the faith.... It’s important for the three Abrahamic religions to hear each other on their own terms. When you bring them so close together in a single volume, they don’t really have any choice.”

September 4

Cardinal Carlo Martini, former archbishop of Milan, dies at age 85

September 4, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a renowned biblical scholar and former archbishop of Milan, died Aug. 31 at the age of 85 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. In a telegram to Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, Pope Benedict praised Cardinal Martini's generous service to the Gospel and the Church and his "intense apostolic work" as a Jesuit, a professor and "authoritative biblicist." As archbishop of Milan, the Pope said, Cardinal Martini helped open for the Church community "the treasures of the sacred Scriptures." The Pope prayed that God would welcome the cardinal into "the heavenly Jerusalem." The cardinal was a prolific author whose books were best-sellers in Italy and included everything from scholarly biblical exegesis to poetry and prayer guides. He retired as archbishop of Milan in 2002, where he was known as a strong pastor and administrator, and as a very careful, thoughtful advocate of wider discussion and dialogue on some delicate and controversial Church positions. At various times, he expressed openness to the possibility of allowing married Latin-rite priests under certain circumstances, ordaining women as deacons and allowing Communion for some divorced Catholics in subsequent marriages not approved by the Church. During a special Synod of Bishops for Europe in 1999, he made waves when he proposed a new Church-wide council or assembly to unravel "doctrinal and disciplinary knots" such as the shortage of priests, the role of women, the role of laity and the discipline of marriage. His carefully worded remarks reflected his belief that the Church would benefit from a wider exercise of collegiality, or the shared responsibility of bishops for the governance of the Church. The idea of a new council was not taken up formally by the synod. Following his retirement, his interests focused on biblical studies, Catholic-Jewish dialogue and praying for peace in the Middle East. Even in retirement, the cardinal kept up with issues of importance in the life of the Church. He was sought after for interviews and frequently published opinion pieces in Italian newspapers. After Pope Benedict eased restrictions on the celebration of the pre-Vatican II liturgy in 2007, Cardinal Martini wrote a newspaper column explaining why, even though he loved the Latin language and could even preach in Latin, he would not celebrate the old Mass. He said he admired Pope Benedict "benevolence" in allowing Catholics "to praise God with ancient and new forms" by permitting wider use of the 1962 form of the Mass, but his experience as a bishop had convinced him of the importance of a common liturgical prayer to express Catholics' unity of belief. The cardinal also said the reformed liturgy that came out of the Second Vatican Council marked "a real step forward" in nourishing Catholics "with the word of God, offered in a much more abundant way than before," with a much larger selection of Scripture readings. In a 2008 book-length interview titled Nighttime Conversations in Jerusalem, Cardinal Martini said Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life), which taught that artificial birth control was morally wrong, led many Catholics to distance themselves from the Church and from listening to and being challenged by the Catholic vision of human sexuality. While not specifically addressing the morality of contraception, the cardinal said the Church needed to take a more pastoral approach to questions of sexuality. "The Church should always treat questions of sexuality and the family in such a way that a leading and decisive role is up to the responsibility of the person who loves," he said. Born in Orbassano, near Turin, Italy, Feb. 15, 1927, Carlo Maria Martini entered the Society of Jesus in 1944, was ordained a priest July 13, 1952, and took his final vows as a Jesuit in 1962. The cardinal, a biblical scholar, never held a parish post. With doctorates in theology and biblical studies, he was a seminary professor in Chieri, Italy, 1958-1961; professor and later rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, 1969-1978; and rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University from July 1978 until his December 1979 appointment to Milan. After his retirement in 2002, he moved to Jerusalem and purchased a burial plot there but returned to Milan after his health worsened in 2008. He died in a Jesuit retirement home near Milan, surrounded by his Jesuit confreres and members of his family. When he was named archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Martini was the first Jesuit in 35 years to head an Italian archdiocese. Pope John Paul II ordained him an archbishop Jan. 6, 1980, in St. Peter's Basilica and named him a cardinal in 1983. Cardinal Martini's death leaves the College of Cardinals with 206 members, 118 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

September 5

Muslim cleric arrested in Pakistani girl's blasphemy case

September 5, 2012

VATICAN CITY - The case against a Pakistani Christian girl accused of blasphemy seemed to take a turn in her favour after a Muslim cleric was arrested on suspicion of fabricating evidence against her. Khalid Jadoon Chishti, the imam or prayer leader who has accused Rimsha Masih of burning pages of the Muslim holy book, was taken into police custody Sept. 2. According to a police official quoted by the Associated Press, witnesses claim the imam tore pages from a Quran and planted them along with burned pieces of paper in the girl's bag. Rimsha has been in police custody since Aug. 18. Her parents said she is 11 years old and has Down syndrome; a court appointed physician found that she was about 14 and is developmentally delayed. A Pakistan court delayed her bail hearing until Sept. 1, but postponed it again until Sept. 7 after the judge in the case changed. The girl's lawyer, Tahir Naveed, told Vatican Radio Sept. 3 that with the arrest of the Muslim cleric, "it is no secret that Rimsha is innocent. This shows that there was a conspiracy." Naveed said Rimsha's case is just the latest instance of someone misusing Pakistan's strict anti-blasphemy laws to intimidate or persecute others. "After the arrest of Imam Jadoon, everyone is talking and reflecting on the fact that this law can be used improperly and even abused," Naveed said. Capuchin Father Francis Nadeem, co-ordinator of the National Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Lahore, said the charges against the girl appeared to be part of a plot by a local "land mafia." "Unscrupulous criminals intend to wrest land from Christians and drive them out from Mehrabadi, a suburb of Islamabad where Rimsha's family lives," Nadeem told the Vatican's missionary news agency Fides. "This is why they made up the case, blaming an innocent child." Accusations that a Christian had burned the Quran drew an angry crowd, prompting hundreds of Christian families to flee the neighbourhood.

To ‘be right with God,’ we must show it through our actions

September 5, 2012

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Sept. 16 (Isaiah 50:5-9; Psalm 116; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35) What sort of person allows the sort of abuse experienced by the Suffering Servant of Isaiah? People would have various interpretations: he is paralysed by fear; he is a coward; he is a masochist; he is crazy; he is a victim. When we look at the text carefully, however, we see an individual who set his face like flint (think of Jesus in Luke 9:59) rather than a passive victim. He allowed the violence against him because he knew that it was due to what he taught and stood for. It is always important to separate ego from the will of God, especially when we claim to speak on God’s behalf. He was absolutely sure of himself — not in the manner of a fanatic or megalomaniac, but one who had experienced the God of Israel and knew that God stood behind him. He knew that he would be vindicated by events that would unfold in the very near future — the release of the exiles in Babylon and their return to Jerusalem. The prosperity gospel — the dubious gift of TV evangelists — has a long history. Some form of it was probably evident in the community to which the Letter of James was addressed. This distorted theology focuses on “what God can do for me” and does not expend time and energy meeting the needs of others. There is another version of this theology — one that is only concerned with personal salvation. As long as I am “right with Jesus” and therefore saved then the needs of others are of merely peripheral interest. Added to this is the Christian tendency to valorize suffering for its own sake — “the cross” becomes an excuse for tolerating the presence of gross inequality and injustice. James took aim at all of these tendencies with his insistence that following Jesus — being right with God — means faith plus action. Faith, as well as love, is always expressed in deeds. It is not a matter of winning God’s favour or earning one’s salvation. Simply put, faith is not genuine and complete unless it finds concrete expression. How do we arrive at the truth about anything? This question has occupied the minds of philosophers and theologians for millennia and there is no easy answer. It does seem, however, that the truth is not necessarily found in either the academy or the marketplace. Many people are content to echo uncritically whatever they hear from politicians, the media, authority figures, communal traditions or conventional wisdom. In so many of these cases this amounts to shared ignorance. On the way to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus conducted a little opinion poll. What are people saying about me? The obvious answers came thick and fast: John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. There was no consensus except that Jesus was someone extraordinary. Peter had been uncharacteristically silent, but then he spoke up: “You are the Messiah (anointed one)!” He was not merely repeating what he had heard but had reflected on the deeds and words of Jesus and listened to the stirrings of the Spirit within him. But acquiring a portion of the truth does not mean understanding it or that we have the bigger picture. Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Christ, but He quickly disabused the apostles of their misconceptions of the term. Sweeping aside traditional understandings of the Messiah, Jesus insisted that His role was to suffer, die and rise from the dead. The apostles were horrified and a shaken Peter tried to talk Him out of it, offering alternative scenarios and “reasonable” arguments. Jesus raised the bar even further: anyone who wanted to be His follower could and should expect the same. Not exactly an inviting “recruiting poster,” and yet so many over the ages have chosen to follow in His footsteps. We are probably surprised at the way in which Jesus turned on Peter in fury, calling him “Satan” or adversary. Peter was tempting Jesus, not deliberately, but by his use of conventional human values, opinions and emotional reactions. Jesus probably felt the allure of those arguments and recognized them for what they were. The will of God or God’s ways should not be confused or identified with human motivations or desires. Our claims to truth should always be tempered with humility and openness to deepening our understanding.

Return to civility

September 5, 2012

Benjamin Franklin once wrote: “Be civil to all, sociable to many, familiar with few, friend to one, enemy to none.” But 250 years later Franklin’s wise words have been turned upside down. Public discourse today is often about being enemies to many and civil to few. That is increasingly evident in our media, homes, schools and even churches, but is particularly true in our political dialogue. Intelligent, civil debate has been bludgeoned to death by crass, dishonest personal attacks that demean the political process and alienate voters. For that reason, the Knights of Columbus and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan are to be commended for promoting civility as an issue in the American presidential election. It’s about time people of influence told political leaders to smarten up. Dolan has asked the Republican and Democratic candidates for president and vice-president to sign a Knights of Columbus petition seeking a return to civility in politics. That includes refraining from personal attacks for the duration of the campaign. No doubt the cardinal realizes this is a tough sell. But it is one well worth pitching. There is a close connection in any society between civility and morality. People must first treat each other with respect and decency in order to advance those values across society as a whole. Cynical politicians create soulless governments that pursue selfish agendas rather than advance the common good. That is as true in Canada as it is in the United States. On this mud-ward slide, Canadian politicians are tumbling right behind their American counterparts. Dolan may not have been speaking to Canada but we should be listening anyway. “We need to remind those running for office and those in office that how we disagree with each other says as much about us as a nation as what issues we disagree on,”said Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus. For that reason, the Knights launched a Civility in America campaign to remind society in general and politicians in particular of the Christian ethos to act always with respect and dignity towards others. It is a non-partisan campaign developed after a survey showed 74 per cent of Americans believe political campaigns are increasingly negative and 66 per cent believe candidates spend more time attacking opponents than discussing issues. “Candidates aren’t running to become the next American Idol,” Anderson said. “They are running to become our public servants. They ought to behave in a manner that keeps faith with that goal.” Spirited debate and disagreement are signs of a healthy society. But dialogue must be conducted with civility. Otherwise conversation becomes confrontation and society is demeaned. We all have a stake in making courtesy common again.

Jesus is apolitical

September 5, 2012

I grew up with socialism. No, not a genetic disease or childhood ailment but a political affiliation. East London, dad a cab driver, working-class, half-Jewish family. Mum’s MP when she was a teenager was Phil Piratin, a Communist. Dad was in the RAF in 1945 and enthusiastically voted Labour. I was a Young Socialist, and used to join in fist fights against fascists marching through immigrant areas. Then I put away childish things, and came into the Church in 1985. The reason I mention this is that some people seem to confuse left-wing politics with Roman Catholicism, which is just as irksome as confusing Catholicism with the right. If Christ is political, He is a mere conduit or token and matters no more than a great ideologue or statesman. We worship Him for what He is, not for what He signifies. Nor does He signify anything political, and to think otherwise is to apply banality to His brilliance. Yet this is what frequently happens, as we see with many activists in our ostensibly Catholic teachers’ union, politicians who deny Jesus most of the time but exploit His name when they want to hide behind ersatz faith and, in the American context, when rival candidates ask for votes and are identified as Roman Catholic. Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is a sincere believer who has championed Catholic causes for many years. Yet as soon as he was nominated groups of liberal Catholics — and the term is philosophically oxymoronic — telephoned their friends in the media to announce that Ryan’s economic policies were contrary to Catholic teaching. It’s deeply significant that when various Democrats cut back spending or closed factories we heard not a word from these people. They were being used of course, but they also volunteered for exploitation because they detest what Ryan and his followers stand for. This has nothing to do with Ryan the libertarian or Ryan the reader of Ayn Rand, but everything with him being a conservative Catholic. He is a product of the urban working class and understands working-class life and aspirations far more deeply and authentically than a Jesuit in a polo shirt making fun of papal teaching at Georgetown. Believe me, I’ve met enough of them to know it to be the case. What Ryan, and other Catholics who increasingly identify with the U.S. Republicans, does believe is that life is sacrosanct and family and marriage a fundamental of Catholic belief. Economic ideas are negotiable, unless they are designed to hurt the most vulnerable, and — please, be serious — no mainstream politician is demanding that. The defence of the unborn and traditional marriage, however, are not negotiable and Catholic politicians are not in good standing with the Church if they allow, encourage or simply remain silent in the face of abortion and the perversion of marriage. You do not have to believe this, but you do not have to be Catholic either. Frankly, I’ve never understood why this is so troubling for politicians. There are lots of other churches you can join, other religions, even the Rotary Club, who offer, I’m told, a fine lunch and excellent golf tournaments. The Roman Catholic Church is a little different, a little more demanding. In the United States there was a time when serious Catholics were welcomed. Then they were in a minority but still had a voice. Now they are an eccentric fringe at best, and it is no accident that Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was immediately accepted by the Republican convention to lead them in prayer, but only given approval by the Democrats at the last moment, after being told he was not welcome. If a child is not allowed to be born in the first place, Washington’s economic policies will be somewhat irrelevant. If marriage defined by Christ and Church is disregarded and mocked, and children are raised in a purposefully dysfunctional family, no social platform will repair and save society. I don’t know Paul Ryan, I believe social democracy was at one time essential, I will never be wealthy, I have no investments or stocks, and my faith demands that I care for the poor. But I am no fool, and I see hypocrisy and dishonesty in diamond-bright clarity.

Politicians aren’t all bad, are they?

September 5, 2012

On a guys’ weekend at the cottage, my 16-year-old son invited me to join him to see the new Will Ferrell hit movie The Campaign. Like so many Ferrell movies, it is rude, raunchy and rowdy, so I guess he thought dad was a good mark to pick up the price of admission, popcorn and drinks. (His mom is a much bigger fan of Ferrell’s humour than me. But that’s another story.) Anyway, we arrived at the great little theatre in Kinmount, Ont., in cottage country and I was surprised that most of the audience was teenage girls. I never figured this sort of movie would appeal to them, but obviously my son has a better scope on what is trending with teenage girls than me. The movie was what I expected: lots of coarse language, innuendo and a few funny scenes. It gleefully skewers the sad state of American politics, and by extension, politics in general in all democratic countries. The message was clear: money and sleaze wins, truth and honour don’t matter; notwithstanding the sappy ending that takes a whiff at erasing all the lies and sleaze bombarded on viewers the previous 90 minutes. Leaving the theatre, my son said something to the affect that all politicians are sleazy and only care about themselves and no one else; not the voters, not even their own families. (Don’t underestimate the power of movies on impressionable minds.) I told him I am not a defender of politicians, but that seemed a harsh comment to wipe all of them with such a broad stroke. “You’re always complaining about high taxes and politicians wasting your money,” he said during the drive back to the cottage. “Name me one good politician.” My first thought was “touché, my boy, I didn’t realize you were listening.” My second thought was that I have met many politicians over the years, including five prime ministers, at least 10 premiers and even one of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation (Joey Smallwood) — and even though I’m sure there are many good ones, only two or three jumped to mind who were in it for the right reasons, unlike Ferrell’s character. The first name was John Tory, whom I have known for about 20 years. I don’t know him well enough to call him a friend, but I do know him well enough to know that he went into politics to help others, not himself. Ted Rogers once called John Tory the best premier Ontario refused to elect. “But he got creamed so that proves that good people can’t succeed in politics,” my son said. He almost got me, and then I mentioned the current federal finance minister, Jim Flaherty. “Son, when you were just a little guy, your mother and I met Mr. Flaherty at a cocktail party when he was finance minister in Ontario,” I said. “He was receiving the royal treatment at the party but when he was introduced to your mother (who is a home design expert of some renown) all he wanted to do was talk to her about what he and his wife were doing about renovating their century home in Whitby. He was a real person, not some phony politician, even though the party hosts were trotting him around the room as if he were the Pope.” But my son quipped: “All that tells me is that he was interested in talking to mom about something for himself and getting her ideas for renovating. Maybe he is a good person but that story doesn’t tell me that.” Darn, this kid is good, I thought. “Okay,” I said. “Have you ever heard of a politician named Irwin Cotler?” “No,” he said. “He used to be Canada’s justice minister and he is still a Member of Parliament,” I said. “Ever heard of Nelson Mandela?” “Of course. But what does Nelson Mandela have to do with Irwin Cotler?” “Because Irwin Cotler was one of the lawyers who helped Mandela get free. He has fought for years for human rights and has worked hard to get so many good people free around the world who were unjustly imprisoned. Some of these names probably don’t mean much to you but political prisoners like Natan Sharansky and many others owe their freedom to Irwin Cotler,” I said. My son asked me why I knew so much about Cotler and I told him I don’t know that much, but I met him once and he spoke passionately about how people can make a difference. I could tell he was not in politics for the money. And, I said, hopefully, there are more people like Irwin Cotler coming into politics, even if the types being mocked by Ferrell seem to be all too prominent and wasting my tax dollars.

200 years later, the Church still won’t capitulate to secularism

September 5, 2012

The news that Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a former archbishop of Milan, has died has swept the secular media of the world. It would be touching that non-Catholics are taking so much notice of a retired archbishop, except that their focus is on Cardinal Martini’s supposed opposition to Catholic doctrine. It is alleged, among other things, that he advocated the use of condoms. This is not true, but it is obvious that the secular press wants us to believe, and perhaps itself believes, that it is true. Cardinal Martini was a leading Italian intellectual, a biblical scholar who also wrote books on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Himself a Jesuit, Cardinal Martini was spoken of affectionately by Jesuits and students of Jesuits around the world. He was famous throughout Italy for his public conversations with other intellectuals, including novellist Umberto Eco. In the 1990s, the Corriere della Sera published the correspondence between Cardinal Martini and Eco as it unfolded, Eco writing as a curious unbeliever, and Cardinal Martini as a defender and teacher of Catholic doctrine. Their letters have been translated and published in a single volume called Belief or Nonbelief. Unfortunately, the admiration many Catholics held for Cardinal Martini, his defence of Catholic doctrines and his scholarship are at risk due to remarks he made to a fellow Jesuit shortly before he died. The comment the BBC — among other secular institutions not particularly sympathetic to the Roman Catholic Church — has seized upon is La Chiesa è rimansta indietro di 200 anni. The translation changes from paper to paper, but I think my teacher at Loretto Abbey would approve “The Church is 200 years behind.” If you wish to read Cardinal Martini’s final interview without the distorted lense of the secular media, it is available in the online Corriere della Sera. Hopefully there will soon be a good, scholarly account of Cardinal Martini’s life and work, so that his legacy is not forever clouded by the wishful thinking of a secular media ever on the hunt for a good “Cardinal bites Church” story. Meanwhile, I wish to say that although the Church, thank God, is not wedded to the spirit of our age, it is certainly not what it was 200 years ago. Two hundred years ago, 1812, the ecclesiastical structures of several Catholic states had been smashed by the aftermath of the French Revolution, and then controlled by Napoleon Bonaparte. The army of the anti-Catholic, revolutionary French army had invaded the Papal States in 1798 and taken Pius VI prisoner. The Pope was carted around Italy and finally imprisoned in France where he died in 1799. The French revolutionary elite hailed this as the death of the “last of the popes” and began hatching a plot to prevent the election of any other future popes. The body was left unburied for months. But the dying Pius VI had left instructions for a conclave, and those members of the College of Cardinals — penniless, terrorized, under pressure from opposed European political powers — who could, met in Venice in 1800 and elected a Benedictine monk. Pius VII was crowned with a papier-mâché version of the traditional (and now surplus) triple tiara, for the French had looted the original. The conclave was, because of the difficult circumstances of wartorn Europe, almost entirely Italian. The cardinals were, because of the social structures of 18th-century Europe, aristocrats. Pius VI himself was an Italian aristocrat and might have found it funny that 206 years later his successor would be the son of a Bavarian police officer. The spiritual role of the Church was still wedded to the temporal role of the Church, as ruler of the Papal States it eventually, if temporarily, reclaimed. The Church wheeled and dealed constantly with the great European powers. Pius VII spent the first 15 years of his pontificate struggling for the Church against Napoleon. He too was taken prisoner; in 1812 Pius VII was dragged, a very sick man, over the Alps into France. Given the affection we ordinary Catholics have for our popes, it seems strange that the popes of 200 years ago were so vulnerable to secular attack. But 200 years ago, ordinary Catholics didn’t think that much about their popes — let alone retired archbishops of Milan — who were, after all, very far away. Popes did not have international celebrity status until Pius IX. Imagine the outcry if John Paul II had been left unburied, or if the EU took Benedict XVI prisoner. Given that the Church of 2012 is so different from that of 1812, Cardinal Martini’s remark about “200 years” seems careless and forgetful. Of course, the modern Church does remain like the Church of 1812 in several respects. One of them is her refusal to capitulate to secular forces that hate her.

Ukrainian Major Archbishop Shevchuk prepares to open synod

September 5, 2012

WINNIPEG - The major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church sent greetings to Canada’s Ukrainian Catholics as he prepared for a multicity visit that includes leading the Church’s Synod of Bishops. Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych, Ukraine, said the synod would “fill all our Canadian community with the special blessing of the Holy Spirit, blowing the fresh wind of this Spirit into the sails of the Ukrainian Church in this country.” His remarks were contained in a message read in Canada’s Ukrainian Catholic churches Sept. 2. The annual worldwide synod of Ukrainian Catholic bishops is being held in Winnipeg Sept. 9-16 to mark the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Nykyta Budka in Canada in 1912. The bishop, now beatified and known as Blessed Nykyta, laid the groundwork for a united Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, gathering the scattered clergy, religious and laypeople. Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg said the synod would renew ties between the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ukraine and Canada and would “affirm the struggle of ... the early pioneers who did so much to establish our Church in Canada and bring it to what it is today.” In his message to the Canadians, Shevchuk appealed for their prayers and support for the synod members. He also expressed thanks for the Canadians’ preservation of the Church’s religious and cultural traditions and for their help after the Ukrainian Catholic Church — a Byzantine rite — began emerging from decades of communist oppression in Ukraine late in the 20th century. The major archbishop began his visit in the Vancouver area Aug. 31 before travelling to Winnipeg. After the synod, he is scheduled to visit Saskatoon and then speak to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at its 2012 annual plenary in Sainte-Adele, Que., Sept. 24. He visited Ukrainian Catholics in the Edmonton area in June and will visit Toronto and eastern Canada early in 2013.

Ontario's Catholic school trustees seek change to McGuinty's Putting Students First Act

September 5, 2012

Ontario’s Catholic school trustees are pressing for changes to Dalton McGuinty’s Putting Students First Act and insisting that Catholic school boards should not be legally bound to new teacher contracts imposed by the government. OCSTA officials will continue to push for amendments to the act to remove contentious clauses that strip school boards of important management rights pertaining to teacher hiring and student testing, said Bob Murray, OCSTA director of legislative and political affairs. Under the proposed new law, Catholic boards will be required to operate by more restrictive policies than the province’s public boards. That inequality was created in late August when the government backtracked on Putting Students First and returned to French and public boards the right to negotiate non-salary issues with their unions. But the same right was denied to Catholic boards. The government had previously done a deal and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) directly with the union that represents Catholic teachers, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA). That deal was negotiated without input from Catholic trustees and their boards, and was allowed to stand after the government relented to opposition party demands to amend Putting Students First. “While the union has signed, the boards themselves, as the legal employer, refused to sacrifice those rights (pertaining to hiring and testing) that are legally theirs,” Murray said. “So, for no reason should they be legally bound to an agreement they didn’t sign.” Five Catholic boards had previously agreed to accept the terms negotiated between the government and OECTA and, said Murray, those boards are legally bound to honour the contract they signed. But OCSTA believes the other 24 Catholic boards should have the same negotiating rights as the public boards. “We have these agreements that were not reached according to the legal collective bargaining process,” said Murray, adding that “labour relations rights of employers and employees have been violated.” The trustees are concerned that granting teacher unions more input in hiring and a greater say in managing diagnostic testing will negatively impact the quality of education. In a statement, OCSTA expressed concern that decisions about education are being made for reasons of political expediency. “These rights are important because of the impact they have on students and the quality of education delivery,” said Murray OCSTA officials were to meet with Liberal and opposition party members to make their case for change. “There will be opportunities for amendments to be put forward and our hope is that the opposition parties will continue to push very strongly to have these two issues fully removed from the legislation,” said Murray. “Our intention and our desire would be for the bill to be amended further to remove those two provisions to be bound to any board at this point.” According to a government spokesman, a final vote on Putting Students First is not expected before Sept. 10.

September 6

British conference looks at relation between power, abuse in Church

September 6, 2012

VATICAN CITY - The "most tragic wound" of clerical sexual abuse will not heal without a response from the entire Catholic Church — hierarchy and laity together — said the chief Vatican investigator of abuse cases. "I think that slowly, slowly, slowly we are getting toward a response that is truly ecclesial — it's not hierarchical, it's the Church. We are in this together, in suffering (from) the wound and trying to respond to it," Msgr. Charles Scicluna told Vatican Radio. The monsignor, whose formal title is promoter of justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke to Vatican Radio during a Sept. 4-5 conference in England titled "Redeeming Power: Overcoming Abuse in Church and Society." The European Society of Catholic Theology sponsored the conference at St. Mary's University College in Twickenham as part of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology's three-year research project on "the power of theology to overcome power abuse in Church and society." Scicluna told Vatican Radio the conference was an important part of the ongoing conversation about how to empower all members of the Church to prevent abuse and promote accountability. "We are accountable not only to God, but to each other and to our peers in how we respond to difficult questions, including sin and crime," he said. The monsignor said Pope Benedict XVI is setting an example for the whole Church when he discusses the abuse crisis, repentance and reform of Church norms with bishops, priests and laity. Marie Keenan, a social worker and psychotherapist who has worked with perpetrators and survivors of clerical sexual abuse, told Vatican Radio that the Church has been slow in responding to the abuse crisis, "but I think that we're moving in the right direction and I think this conference is part of that." Keenan, who lectures at University College Dublin, said she is concerned that clerical sexual abuse is sometimes seen as "a problem of individuals, either individual perpetrators who were devious and managed to get through the doors" of the seminary undetected, "or bad or erring bishops who didn't have the right heart or spirit or intellect or knowledge or something." The conference is part of an effort to look at relationships and structures of power within the Church and determine how they may have contributed to the crisis. Keenan said that without addressing those broader issues, the Church risks placing too much trust in the important psychological tests designed to "screen out deviants." Relying exclusively on the tests is dangerous, she said, because "some of these men chose an abusive road not because they were deviants to begin with, but because something happened to them in the course of their life, either in formation or priesthood or living their life that wasn't picked up on and with which they weren't helped adequately." At the same time, she said, "even with the same formation and the same lifestyle, many, many men don't turn to abuse," so there must be a recognition that Church culture hasn't caused everyone "to use their power position in an abusive way." In addition, Keenan said that in her research "I found no evidence that celibacy is a cause of sexual abuse." While "there may be good reasons for the Church to rethink the celibacy issue, it's not because of the child sexual abuse issue," she said. Sister of Charity Nuala Patricia Kenny, a pediatrician and retired professor of bioethics in Canada, said recent cases of abuse and sexual scandal convinced her that "we had not finished the job" of addressing clerical sexual abuse. "The Church, in the area of policies and protocols, surely now has become a world leader," she said. But as she told the conference, "we have been a slow learner on this one." Catholics, she said, need to reflect on the question: "How does power and our sense of Church, how has the inactivity of the laity, our inability to have good, positive, loving experiences between priest and people in our Church that would make us a healthy Church — how has all of that made us continue to deny, to fail to accept the difficult challenges" posed by the abuse crisis? Kenny, who has been a religious for 50 years, said there were days "when I had to kneel, kneel, kneel at my desk and literally hold on to the New Testament because I've been so overwhelmed by how much harm has been done, not just to the individual victims, but to the whole body of Christ." "I'm not a woman who breaks down easily and cries, but I have wept about this issue," she said. "On the other hand, I can tell you that I know in my heart that the Holy Spirit is leading us somewhere graced and I am perfectly prepared to do whatever I can with the grace and energy the Lord gives me to contribute to that. "Walking away is not an option because it belongs to my baptismal commitment," Kenny said. "This is my Church."

Gambling Ottawa priest's court appearance put off to Oct. 17

September 6, 2012

OTTAWA - Fr. Joe LeClair, a popular Ottawa priest who has been charged with theft, fraud and breach of trust, had his first court appearance postponed until Oct. 17 after one of his lawyers asked for more time to examine the evidence. Defense counsel had only received disclosure of evidence in the previous week and also wished for pre-trial consultations with the crown, the lawyer told the court on Sept. 5. LeClair was not present. LeClair was charged July 3 with one count each of theft, fraud, criminal breach of trust and laundering the proceeds of crime after a lengthy Ottawa Police Organized Fraud investigation that was launched more than a year ago following a complaint from the archdiocese of Ottawa about missing funds from Ottawa's Blessed Sacrament parish. Over a review period from January 2006 to May 2011, police found $240,000 in parish cheques were misappropriated and $160,000 in cash that was not accounted for. LeClair, who has served in the Ottawa archdiocese for 25 years, was largely credited with the revival of Blessed Sacrament parish in the Glebe neighbourhood. In the spring of 2011, he admitted to a gambling addiction after the Ottawa Citizen ran a series of articles revealing huge credit card debts and cash advances. The priest denied ever misusing parish funds to feed his gambling habit. The archdiocese of Ottawa asked for a forensic audit around the same time the newspaper began its reports. After the audit was completed, the archdiocese filed the complaint.

Collins urges Catholics to cross Palestinian-Israeli divide

September 6, 2012

TORONTO - The complexity, heartbreak and bitter politics of the endless Palestinian-Israeli conflict are no reason for Christians to either settle for easy answers or to throw up their hands in despair. The situation calls for Christian charity and solidarity, Cardinal Thomas Collins told a packed theatre in Toronto Sept. 5. Collins was on hand for the Toronto premiere of the Salt + Light TV documentary Across the Divide. The full-length documentary takes a close look at Bethlehem University — the only Catholic post-secondary institution in the Holy Land — and the trials of fourth-year commerce student Berlanty Azzam. Azzam was caught up in a maze of Israeli military security procedures that saw her detained and prevented from returning to Bethlehem to finish her degree. Azzam's detention by Israeli forces while she was on her way to a job interview in Ramallah became an international incident in 2009. The case blew up while Salt + Light producer Kris Dmytrenko and a crew were on the Bethlehem University campus making a film about the Christian Brothers and their 39-year-old university just outside Jerusalem. If the Church has to pick a side, it chooses to stand with the poor and the refugees, said Collins in a panel discussion after the screening. Collins was a participating bishop in the Synod on the Middle East in 2010. "We have to help them," said Collins, who has spearheaded efforts by Canadian dioceses to sponsor Iraqi refugees displaced by the turmoil in their homeland. "We would prefer, of course, that they can flourish in their home." The whole point of Bethlehem University is that it is a means for Palestinians — Chistians and Muslims — to flourish where they are, said Robert Smith, the university's vice chancellor. The university's student body is about 70 per cent Muslim and 30 per cent Christian. "They (graduates) will be trained and professional and committed to build a nation as well as a Church," he said. Dmytrenko, co-director of Across the Divide, warned against the temptation to name good guys and bad guys in the conflict. "There's a lot of people suffering on both sides," he said. "It's not a case of who is suffering more." "People think that all Muslims are terrorists trying to get rid of all Christians. That's not true," said Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canada director Carl Hetu. As a Maronite Catholic from Lebanon, it was important to Mona Dagher to be at the documentary's premiere. "I would hope that people will at least know what is going on there," said Dagher. She praised the film for accurately depicting the lives of Palestinian Christians. Ajax high school teacher Deanna Wilson said she plans to show the movie to her Grade 12 World Religions class. "We have an obligation to open our lens to other religions and realities," she said. She hopes particularly that her comfortable, suburban teens are moved by Azzam's struggle to get an education. "There are a lot of details I wasn't aware of," said Danny Ferguson at the end of the evening. "It's important to understand the political environment." "This gets the word out. This gets out the truth and the fullness of the truth," said Smith. "Our purpose in making this documentary was not to convince. It was simply to tell a story," Salt + Light CEO Fr. Tom Rosica told the audience. Rosica said he's received calls from committed advocates for both sides in the conflict — Palestinians, Jews and their allies — all equally unhappy with the film. But rather than buying into the rhetoric of the conflict the film strives to accurately fill in the political, economic, social and religious reality Bethlehem University struggles with daily.

September 7

French carmaker Renault gives Pope electric minivans

September 7, 2012

VATICAN CITY - Thanks to a French automaker and an Italian utility, Pope Benedict XVI now has a pair of all-electric minivans and a series of recharging stations with which to power them. Two custom-made editions of Renault's Kangoo Maxi Z.E. cars were delivered personally to the Pope Sept. 5 at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo. At a Vatican press conference the next day, representatives of Renault told reporters the two cars were made specifically for the Vatican. The white version, with the papal stem on the front doors, was designed for the Pope to use, probably at Castel Gandolfo, but Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said it also could be used on other occasions when the Pope is in the midst of a crowd. The roof over the back seats opens and the side windows are removable, so it can be used as a popemobile, the Renault representatives said. It also has a retractable step to make it easier to get in and out of the vehicle. On a full charge, they said, the Pope's car can cover 160 km. While they did not say how fast the Pope's Kangoo Maxi Z.E. could go, Renault says its unmodified version can reach speeds up to 125 km an hour. The second Kangoo Maxi Z.E. given to the Pope was designed for the Vatican police force, the "gendarmeria Vaticana." Painted blue, the minivan has police lights on top and a white-and-gold stripe around the sides. Pope Benedict, the Italian police who patrol St. Peter's Square, and the staff of Castel Gandolfo and the Vatican press office already use electric vehicles, which is why the Italian electric company ENEL has installed recharging stations at the Vatican as well as at the summer villa.

Former U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak who brokered U.S. health law compromise calls HHS mandate illegal

September 7, 2012

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Department of Health and Human Services' mandate that would force many religious institutions to provide free contraceptives against their consciences is illegal, former U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak said Sept. 4 during a meeting of pro-life Democrats. During debate over the legislation that would become the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Stupak negotiated an executive order with the Obama administration that guaranteed the act would not violate the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funding for any abortion or abortion-related care. The HHS mandate violates that executive order, as well as the Hyde Amendment itself, Stupak believes. "Specifically, as written, it violates the law and violates the executive order," said Stupak, who decided not to seek re-election after passage of the health reform law. Last year, as her agency set forth the nuts and bolts of the Affordable Care Act, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declared that nearly all employers must include free contraception and sterilization services in their health insurance policies. HHS drafted a narrow exemption for religious employers who object to providing contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs as mandated, but to be exempted they must serve and hire people primarily of their own faith. Catholic schools, hospitals and charitable organizations would not qualify under that standard; they would either have to provide such coverage in violation of Catholic teaching, pay steep annual fines in order to keep providing health insurance to their employees and students, or stop providing health insurance entirely. Stupak said he was "bewildered" and "perplexed" by the HHS mandate when it was announced last summer. Religious organizations led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops bristled, and under the vocal leadership of Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, conference president, they fought back. They denounced the move at first, asking the Obama administration to back off the HHS mandate. Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina was one of the first to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the HHS mandate. More than 20 similar lawsuits are now in the works. In response to the criticism, President Barack Obama announced a compromise, giving Catholic institutions a year's reprieve from having to comply with the HHS mandate and allowing them to pass the coverage costs onto their insurance carriers rather than pay for it directly. But the bishops and other religious institutions argued that the mandate itself was unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment protection for religious freedom. The Affordable Care Act was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, but the court did not review the HHS mandate or other details of the act. One justice even hinted in her written opinion that the HHS mandate, if challenged in federal court, is at risk of being ruled unconstitutional. Stupak said he agrees with the public outcry over the HHS mandate and its assault on religious organizations' freedom to not offer health insurance coverage for services they consider immoral. He smiled when he was asked about the court battles now getting under way, and he said the Catholic bishops are absolutely right to challenge the HHS mandate. He also noted, without giving specifics, that there have been some moves by the Obama administration to modify the mandate. Dolan and the USCCB staff have asked to meet with administration officials to work out a fix, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful. Stupak hinted it is in the Obama administration's best interest to bend on this controversial issue, because the HHS mandate could be overturned in court. "We don't want this stuck in the courts, being challenged for years," he said.