"In light of Ignatius' "Two Standards" and "The Mystries Done From The Garden To The House Of Annas", at any moment we can be Judas or Peter, a Christian life can be a fine line."
(Here) is post by Fr. James Martin, S.J. at America's In All Things blog. I am not criticizing the content of the post, however I think it is worth evaluating and pointing to something more self reflective.
There is that old saying, "If the shoe were on the other foot."
I am going to leave this first excerpt of Father Martin's post just as he wrote it, then below I am going to change a few words around so that we can see somethings in a little different light.
Fr. Martin is discussing the upcoming Apostolic Visitation of The Legionaries of Christ.
"This question - whether there is a genuine institutional charism present here or not - is very serious and, as it presents itself in the case of the Legion, unprecedented in the history of the Church. I hope that the visitors will turn up useful information that will assist the Holy See in discerning the answer to that question.
Finally, I fear there may be more victims of Fr. Maciel out there. Their welfare has to become more clearly a palpable and obvious priority for the Legionary superiors. I am hopeful that the major superiors of the Legion who may be now have acquired much more information in this regard will be entirely forthcoming with the visitors."
Now slightly changed.
This question - whether there is a genuine institutional charism present here or not - is very serious and, as it presents itself in the case of the (Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus) unprecedented in the history of the Church. I hope that the visitors will turn up useful information that will assist the Holy See in discerning the answer to that question.
Finally, I fear there may be more victims of ( the 40 Oregon Jesuits) out there. Their welfare has to become more clearly a palpable and obvious priority for the (Jesuit) superiors. I am hopeful that the major superiors of the (Jesuits) who may be now have acquired much more information in this regard will be entirely forthcoming with the visitors.
Go (here) to the back stories on the abuse cases of the 40 Jesuits and Oregon bankruptcy.
Christians have been told to leave Nepal or face dire consequences from the Hindu group that claimed responsibility for the bombing of Assumption Church in Kathmandu in May.
According to Bishop Anthony Sharma, apostolic vicar of Nepal, the obscure Nepal Defense Army (NDA) made threats over the phone to pro-vicar Father Pius Perumana, director of the St John Vianney Pastoral Center at Godavari, Jesuits at the St. Xavier’s school, nuns at St. Mary’s School and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at Baluwatar, all in Kathmandu.
“The NDA has been threatening non-Nepalese priests and nuns. It has asked them to leave the country within one month,” the Jesuit bishop told UCA News on July 8.
Link (here) Photo is of Bishop Anthony Sharma, S.J.
Benedict XVI is, happily, incapable of dealing with something unless he deals with everything. Journalists will rapidly read this documents looking for items that are “news-worthy,” that is, ones that criticize business, the government, the media, or the Church. They will not concentrate on the overall scope of what Benedict is about here.
The encyclical is wide-ranging and seeks to say something about everything. It is known to be a document initially prepared by others from various disciplines and sectors of the Church and curia, but finally organized by the Pope, no mean feat. Benedict’s first two encyclicals were composed mostly by himself. The difference is telling in reading this document. The document has a kind of “touch on everything” feeling about it. However, what it does consider at some depth, things such as business, profit, life, and the relation of politics to metaphysics and revelation, are very good.
Benedict sets this encyclical within a broader framework so that we can see the limited but important status that public life has. The whole document is concerned with our relation to each other, especially to the poor and weak. It is stronger on what the rich owe to the poor than in what the poor must themselves do if they are to be not poor. The discussion of the other religions in their relation to issues of development is quite frank. The Pope understands that many of their basic beliefs and attitudes are incompatible with a more developed human life. But this criticism is not taken to mean that allowing freedom of religion is not the basic human duty of the state.
Link (here) to the full piece at Catholic World Report
I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently.
Jeremiah 3:15
Last week, our Holy Father published a letter declaring this year to be a “Year for Priests”.The declaration was made on the 150th anniversary of the death of the Curé of Ars, the saintly John Mary Vianney.In the letter, Pope Benedict urged priests around the world to be priests after the Heart of Jesus.In urging priests to follow the example of the Curé, the Holy Father quotes St. John Vianney, who said, “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy”.
For those of us who had the grace to have Father Thomas King, S.J. as a teacher, a priest, and a friend, we certainly know the truth of the Curé’s words.Indeed, Georgetown received a great gift from the Lord in the form of Father King.
As for our beloved Father King, I am sure that he read the letter from the Holy Father.Maybe he was too humble to admit it, but let me be the first to say that all of what the Holy Father called for – priests after the Heart of Jesus – all of what the Holy Father called for was accomplished – with the grace of God, of course – by Father King.
For the students of Georgetown, who were far from their homes and their families, Father King was a pastor, a shepherd who guided us to Love, to Truth, to Jesus, to God the Father.Like the saintly Curé, Father King worked tirelessly in the fields of the Lord – day in and day out, six days of the week offering the 11:15 Mass, with Benediction on Tuesdays and his famed soirees on Wednesdays.
He headed the University Faculty for Life, and for those of us who were involved with GU Right to Life, he was always there to give the yearly prayer for those unborn who were mercilessly slaughtered by the culture of death.
As we know, as we see, Father King was a popular man, beloved by many, admired by many.Why was this?Was it his charisma?Was it the fact that he was (before my time at least) one of the best impersonators of Fred Astaire?Was it his iconic greetings – “Yo!” among others?Was it his perpetual joy?Or his perpetual youthfulness?Of course it was all of these things.
But I also like to think that it was the fact that he was a priest after the Heart of Jesus – a true prophet of the Good News, of the Gospel of Truth, of the Gospel of Life!He was an unashamed defender of the defenseless, of the innocent, especially the most innocent, those babies that were and continue to be slaughtered by the culture of death.He was an uncompromising defender of the Truth.
Six days of the week, for forty years (!), he persevered, hot or cold, rain or snow, to feed us, his sheep, with the Body and Blood of the Lamb.Even at the young age of 80, even after becoming crippled by ice, he still walked to class, teaching us about Mother Teresa, among other things, drawing very skillfully the Cave of Plato, telling us about his adventures in India.You can insert your own memories here.Whatever your memories, I’m sure they reflected his mystical love of God, his joyful and youthful demeanor, and his iconic mustache.
What was the mystique of this man?
Why was this man, Father Thomas Mulville King, why was this man so popular?He preached against abortion, against the sins of the flesh.He preached about a man who was brutally murdered and then rose from the dead three days later.He preached against everything this world holds most dear, he preached for everything this world most abhors.
And yet he was so popular, so beloved.Why was this so?
Because whether we know it or not, we are attracted to the Truth, to Good.Father King, through his self-sacrifice as a priest in God’s Catholic Church, channeled that truth, that goodness, that Eternal Truth, that Eternal Goodness.He showed us the Way.He shepherded us, against the lies of the world, against the evils of the world, keeping us on the straight and narrow.He was a candle in the darkness.Indeed, he truly was a priest after the Heart of Jesus.
Remarkably, here was a holy man, a holy priest, who dwelled among the infamously un-Catholic environment of Georgetown, who stayed true to Our Church while so many of her own priests strayed from her, continue to stray from her.
For those priests who find the Curé of Ars to be too distant an example to follow, the Lord gives you an example for these tumultuous times.In this Year for Priests, may you, the priests of God’s Catholic Church, may you all look to the life of Father King
– a sacrificial, uncompromising life – as an example of how to be a good priest, of how to be a priest after the Heart of Jesus.
May we all pray for Father King, and may Father King pray for us all, especially for the priests of God’s Catholic Church.
Amen.
Courtesy of Brian A. Nafarrete, 24 June 2009, San Diego, CA
A Short Biography
Fr Thomas King, SJ, taught theology at Georgetown University for forty years. He was featured several years ago by one of the campus newspapers as Georgetown's man of the century. He founded University Faculty for Life, and his courage and perseverance has sustained this group over the years. Known especially for celebrating Mass at 11.15 pm in the University chapel six days a week for the last forty years, his example and preaching helped many young people find their vocations in life, whether married or religious and priestly.
A prolific scholar as well as pastor, he was an expert on the Jesuit paleontologist and mystic Pierre Teihard de Chardin. Fr King wrote: "Teihard's Mass: Approaches to 'The Mass on the World'" (2005); "Teihard de Chardin" (Way of the Christian Mystcis, 2008); Teihard, Evil and Providence" (1989); "Teihard's Mysticism of Knowing" (1981); "Teihard and the Unity of Knowledge" (1983); "Letters of Teihard de Chardin and Lucille Swan" (2005). In addition, he authored: "Sartre and the Sacred" (1974); "Can the Modern World Believe in God?" (1993); "Enchantments: Religion and the Power of the World" (1989); "Jung's Four and Some Philosophers" (1999); "Merton: Mystic at the Center of America" (1992).
Born in 1929, he entered the Jesuits in 1951, was ordained in 1964, and received his doctorate from the University of Strasbourg in France. A more faithful son of the Church and St Ignatius Loyola would be hard to find
"Legendary Georgetown University theology professor, Fr. Thomas King, S. J., died last night. He was the founding president of University Faculty for Life, an academic society on whose board I sit. We will miss our beloved Fr. King."
Joseph Bottom's post (here) on Fr. King, his blog is entitled First Thoughts
Fr. King was my theology professor, in the mandatory theology course I took as a freshman at Georgetown. He’d had throat surgery of some kind, and his voice was soft and ghostly—lost in the hum whenever the air-conditioner in White-Gravenor Hall would come on.
I saw him far more rarely than I wanted, in later years: a few UFL meetings, and Tim took me by to visit him in the Quad on a trip to Washington.
But I remember the midnight Masses he would say in Dahlgren Chapel when we were undergraduates: candlelit and subdued, and as mystical as any services I’ve ever experienced—except perhaps for the Mass he would say every year in the crypt underneath the chapel in Copley Hall on the anniversary of the ordination of Teilhard de Chardin.
Scholastic Joseph Koczera, SJ writes in his post (here) Ave atque vale, his blog is entitled, City and the World.
It was with great shock and sadness that I learned, just two hours ago, of the death this evening of Father Thomas Mulvihill King. In his forty-one years on the Hilltop, Father King had an incalculable influence on several generations of Georgetown students. I owe my own vocation to the Society of Jesus to his influence and example, and I will miss him dearly as a priest, teacher, mentor and friend. I will probably post more detailed reflections on his passing later, but for now I'll simply ask you to join me in praying for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his family and friends.
And further at his post (here)Adieux, Joseph writes
Thomas Mulvihill King was not the first Jesuit I ever met, but he was the first Jesuit I really got to know as a person. He was also the first Jesuit - as well as the first priest - whom I ever had as a teacher. He was my guide on my first visit to the Holy Land and on several student retreats at Georgetown. When Tom King died suddenly of a heart attack last Tuesday, I lost a mentor, friend and spiritual father. To say that Tom was my spiritual father is to say that he was like a Russian starets, a venerable and wise guide to the Christian life.
Blogger Note: We, Jesuits and non-Jesuits alike a have a "My Jesuit". I seems as though Fr. King was "My Jesuit" to quite a few people. When I say quite a few, I think that translates into 10's of thousands.
Fr. Mueller synthesizes some of the aspects Pope Benedict's book. Short topics which Father included are; hypostatic union, scripture studies in light of the Catholic modernist movement and Vatican II and Monotheism. Broad and big ideas that Fr. Joe discusses is, "Jesus' mission is to lead all people to the Father", "Jesus is the Sabbath" and "Benedict's 'traditional Gospel approach' is a way of undoing the sterility of the historical critical approach and allowing the real Jesus to speak to us through scripture."
Although not referenced in the talk you can envision a scholarly and supernatural approach to Jesus found in the Spiritual Exercises.
Pope Benedict has something for everyone in Caritas in Veritate—from praising profit (21) to defending the environment (48). But in these cases, as in all the others, he calls for a discernment and a purification by faith and reason (56) that should temper immoderate and one-sided enthusiasms.
Once again Pope Benedict shows himself to be a theologian of synthesis and fundamental principles. In the titles of his three encyclicals he has used only five nouns: God, Love, Hope, Salvation, and Truth—the most fundamental of realities. And in the opening greeting of this encyclical he succinctly describes the contents: “on integral human development in charity and truth.” Note that from this very greeting Pope Benedict has changed the whole framework of the debate on “the social question.” This was expected to be—and is—his encyclical on “social justice.” And indeed “justice” and “rights” find their proper place in a larger synthesis. But the priority is established from the outset, the foundation is laid, with “charity” and “truth.”
Link (here) to the full piece at Catholic World Report.
Fr. Nicolas was in Manila this past weekend to join the Philippine Jesuits celebrate their sesquicentennial, 1859-2009. He is not a stranger to our country, for he has been here for several years: first, as professor at the East Asian Pastoral Institute, a spiritual and theological renewal center in the Ateneo de Manila campus for missionaries, priests, religious sisters, and interested lay partners; second, as its director. Just before his election to his present position, he was director of the Jesuit center to direct and coordinate the Jesuit apostolate in Asia and Oceania. His visit to our country was some kind of a homecoming for him, and a prayer of thanks for 150 years of Jesuit presence in our country.
Charles III of Spain (1759- 88), a crowned head proud to be enlightened but despotic, signed away the Jesuits in all his dominions in 1767, for "weighty reasons he was locking away in his royal breast."
Six years later, political intrigue pressured the Pope to suppress the Society of Jesus an earlier Pope had approved. Those bright boys are no more, but the Society of Jesus, "the King’s good servants, but God’s first; God’s above all," resurrected to life in 1814. Today, the Jesuits all over the world continue to serve God and His people, by teaching them "letras y doctrina cristiana."
At the time, Spain felt its farthest colony needed, not costly military force, but the Jesuits. The military could conquer, but only the missionaries could win hearts. In 1859, the Jesuits were back in the country, and people were not disappointed.
Then there is Ramakrishna "Xerox", who has been arrested 21 times for selling illegally photocopied books to students; Shankara, the mixed-caste Brahmin-Hoyka student, who sets off a bomb in a Jesuit school;
In reading Jim Carney, I discovered a maverick and cantankerous streak in him. He was also stubborn. These are tendencies I have seen also in myself, so perhaps these are some reasons I am a Carney admirer. Weber and Stochl have been consummate socializers, especially Weber, who was in a class by himself, smooth like silk. Carney was not a socializer. He loved the poor people of Honduras, and eventually this was all that mattered to him.
I suppose Carney became a fanatic. He gave up his United States citizenship to become a naturalized Honduran. (There are very, very few people who ever give up American citizenship.) Carney’s interpretation of Christianity convinced him that a true follower of Jesus Christ had to be a revolutionary in the Honduran and Central American context in which he found himself as a Jesuit missionary.
Earlier this week, I was looking over a couple chapters of Carney’s book. I saw mention of John Waters and John Willmering as working in Honduras during Carney’s sojourn in the 1970s. Waters and Willmering were Jesuit scholastics at SJC during my time (1959-1965), but these two could never have carried Carney’s cross. They were nice guys. To put it bluntly, they were not man enough to do what Jim Carney did. Few of us are. If you can’t get a copy of Jim Carney’s book, you can “Google” him and get a sense of the man. Carney took the first name “Guadalupe” as part of his Honduran metamorphosis, so you can find him as James Carney, Jim Carney, or Guadalupe Carney.
Gerald M. Cattaro, Ed.D. As a professor of education, chair of the Division of Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy at Fordham, and executive director of the Center for Catholic School Leadership in the Graduate School of Education (GSE), Cattaro plays a critical role in the ongoing effort to revitalize Catholic schools.
It is a subject he knows well, and about which he is extremely passionate, having worked for 18 years as a principal at a Catholic school in Brooklyn.
“When I was in Brooklyn, we had over 250 Catholic schools. We’re down to about 130 schools now,” he said. “When I was there, I was one of four laypeople who were principals. Today, there may be 10 religious left.” One of the ways Cattaro helped bolster Catholic education, which has been battered by closing schools and rising tuition, was to organize “Paul: Prophetic Missionary and Transforming Leader,” a weeklong conference that took place from June 25 to July 1 in Vatican City, Rome.
The conference, which linked leaders of Catholic education from states as disparate as Florida, Indiana, New Orleans and New York with counterparts in the Vatican, was inspired by conversations Cattaro had with His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, prefect for the Congregation for Catholic Education.
Catholic school superintendents and vicars of education from the United States had the opportunity to discuss three core issues with their counterparts at the Vatican: identity, quality and affordability.
Jesuits can expand crowded cemetery, Lower Heidelberg zoning panel rules The Lower Heidelberg Zoning Hearing Board has unanimously approved the expansion of a cemetery at the Jesuit Center, a religious retreat east of North Church Road. The Rev. William P. Ryan, treasurer for the applicant, Maryland Province of Society of Jesus, testified that the 80-year-old cemetery's 200 or so burial plots are nearly all taken, with only four underground vaults remaining.
"More than half of the 360 priest-members in our province are over 65 years of age,"
he said Tuesday. Ryan said the center wants to respect the original design of Charles F. Gilette, a prominent Virginia landscape architect of the early 20th century. Scott Miller of Stackhouse Bensinger Inc., Sinking Spring, testified that plans call for about 316 new grave sites to be laid out in two half-circles. A retaining wall at one of the semicircles will have a granite columbarium, or structure of vaults, with recesses for 216 urns containing cremated remains. Resident Robert A. Montgomery testified in support of the expansion.
"Nobody knows the cemetery is there now and won't know when the expansion is finished," said Montgomery, who lives along North Church Road.
He and his wife, Susanne K., said the center has been a good neighbor to the area for the past 90 years. James E. Gavin of Masano Bradley in Wyomissing, attorneys for both the applicant and the owner, Jesuit Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues of Wernersville, said the cemetery is a nonconforming use in the agricultural preserve zoning district but predates the township's zoning ordinance.
Laurie Goodstien at the New York Time recently penned an article on the Apostolic Visitation on the Catholic women religious in America. She is interviewed by Tom Ashbrook on the NPR radio show "Talking Point" and does a descent, but hesitant job of explaining the Apostolic Visitation. Sister Sandra Schneiders a professor at The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley is also interviewed. Sister Schnieders has taken a step back from the controversial quote that has propelled her to the forefront of the American Catholic left. Her basic stance is that the Vatican has not consulted womens religious orders and she is offended by that fact.
Pius IX and Leo XIII, the former having in 1870 solemnly proclaimed St. Joseph the Protector of the Catholic Church, and the latter having made his feast of 19 March one of the solemn feasts of the year, in 1883, and extended to the whole Church the feast of the Holy Familyin 1896. Lastly, in order that the faithful may studiously imitate the great virtues of the Foster-father and Guardian of the Family of Nazareth and implore his powerful assistance in these troublous times, the Pope has, after mature examination by the Sacred Congregation, approved this Litany of St.Joseph, and granted that it be inserted in the official liturgical books, and that it be recited and chanted throughout the whole Church; moreover, His Holiness has enriched it with an indulgence of three hundred days to be gained once a day and also applicable to the souls in Purgatory. The decree is duly signed by our own former Delegate Apostolic, Cardinal Martinelli, now the Prefect of the Congregation of Rites. The Catholic Church has been very sparing in the approval of litanies for universal and public use. The only litanies heretofore approved were four in number: the Litany of All the Saints, with the modified and abridged forms for the dying and the Forty Hours' Devotion; the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus; the Litany of the Sacred Heart, approved for the whole Church in 1899; and the Loreto Litany of the Blessed Virgin. Besides, we may observe a notable difference in this Litany of St. Joseph, which is not taken from any previously in use, as is the case with the Litany of the Sacred Heart, but was made up by Rome, and in its Latin text has never more than two or three words to each invocation.
Who, next to Mary, was more beloved of Jesus Christ than St. Joseph? Who had a greater share in His divine caresses? But he was a virgin, and the guardian of Mary's virginity. Amongst the apostles, all of whom were honored with Our Lord's predilection, there was one who deserved to be called, and who in reality was, "the disciple whom Jesus loved." It was he who had made himself more perfect in purity.
St. John, at the Last Supper, with the unreserved confidence of a friend, lays his head on the bosom of Jesus, and freely questions Him, when St. Peter himself dared not speak, and the secrets of heaven were then revealed to him; but all these favors were the reward of his virginity.
Virgo permansit, et ideo plus amatur a Domino. (St. Hier.) For this, also, did Jesus dying commend to him His Blessed Mother. Ma- trem virginem virgini commendavit. (Ib.) As it were to signify that the loss of a Son, who is God, could be compensated for (if compensation were possible) only by the adoption of a son who was a virgin.
Amongst all the elect, says St. John, those alone will be chosen to compose the cortege of the Lamb on whose brow will shine the halo of virginity. They will follow Him whithersoever He shall go; and they will sing a hymn which virgins only will be permitted to sing. For them there will be joys distinct from those of all the other saints.
Gaudia a caeter- orum omnium gaudiorum sorte distincta . . . gaudia propria virginum Christi. (St. Aug. de virg.) O priest, thank God for having called you to a profession so holy and happy.
Cardinal Bellarmine observes that we may well believe that the souls in Purgatorypray and obtain graces for us, since the rich man in hell prayed for his brothers, although he suffered much more than they suffer in Purgatory. And Francisco Suarez, S.J., who praises this opinion as pious and probable, confirms it by these words:
"The souls in Purgatory can pray for those who earnestly implore their deliverance of God, and who endeavour to obtain it by good works. For their prayers can but be useful to those persons whom they do not know, but whom God knows. Nothing then prevents them from begging God to assist these persons in necessity, to forgive their offenses, to preserve them from temptations, etc."
This is therefore another reason for believing that our good works applied to the dead have more power to draw down on us great gifts from heaven. For although the dead may not know in particular who we are, nor of what we stand in need, they can always recommend their benefactors to God, and implore Him to give them what they desire for His glory and for their salvation. " It is, in fact," says Suarez " a duty of charity and gratitude; why then should they refuse to acquit themselves of it? We have then," concludes the same Doctor, " a holy and real reason for doing good to the souls in Purgatory, so that we may have a greater share in their prayers."
When we Catholic journalists prepared to meet with the president last Thursday morning, NCR publisher Joe Feuerhard reported that his son had told him to ask the president, “How is it to be the coolest guy in the world?”
I can’t say we saw that well-known cool Thursday morning, except perhaps in his interchange with Fr. Owen Kearns, L.C.
but Barack Obama appeared, as he so often does, to be utterly comfortable in his own skin.
Link (here) to the full post by Fr. Drew Christiansen, S.J. the Editor in Chief of America magazine, his post is entitled, The Obama We Met
Fr. Owen Kearns, L.C. is a member of the Catholic religious order of priests, the Legionaries of Christ. He is the publisher of the major American Catholic newspaper called The National Catholic Register.
David Gibson at Pontifications could not contain his "Legion Bashing", read his thoughtless comments (here) on the Catholic meeting with the President.
Sister Francis Joseph, R.A. (Religious of Assumption) celebrates her 90th birthday with a party in the garden of Saint Francis of de Sales Church. Sr. Francis has had her picture taken with Popes while she worked with groups of religious in Rome. She tells tales of dinners with Pope John Paul and Father Pedro Arrupe.
It’s a day to celebrate our freedom as individuals and as a nation. Along with the oratory and patriotic words, our celebration of the day ought to also occasion a renewed commitment to recognize our connection with others.
On the Fourth of July we should let our faith remind us that each of us is connected to every other person in the world, and independence doesn’t mean isolation. On the contrary, just as the diminishing of freedom anywhere lessens freedom everywhere, it’s also true that freedom anywhere offers hope for freedom for people everywhere.
"Barry Fitzgerald was a Dublin-born actor who was so successful at playing an Irish priest that he left an impression of all Irish priests as wise, holy and just a little bit daft. Fitzgerald was, in fact, a Protestant and his birthplace was beside a tiny synagogue (now the Irish Jewish Museum). The image of the Irish priest has changed: he is now seen in dark colours rather than dark clothing."
A historic Jesuit church in St. Marys will be demolished tomorrow to make way for construction of a brand new church at the same site. Historic Immaculata Church on the grounds of Saint Mary's Academy and College will be removed on Monday as the first phase in the project to build a new Immaculata. It will take about a month to complete the first phase of demolition and site preparation, and will cost between $10-$12 million dollars.The new church will be built in the exact same place as the old one; right in the heart of campus. The new Immaculata will be approximately 45,000 square feet, will seat about 1,300 people and will be built in the traditional gothic style. When it's complete, it will be one of the largest churches of this style built in the U.S. in the last few decades.
On the llth of February, 1626, the court and the nobles of the land were assembled in the open air. Two rich thrones were occupied by the monarch Susenyos and his distinguished guest, and a surrounding multitude gazed upon the imposing ceremony in silence.
"when the King shall satisfy the debt of his ancestors, and submit himself and his people to the only true head of the church."
A copy of the Gospel was produced, and the monarch, falling upon his knees, took the oath of homage.
" We King of the kings of Ethiopia, believe and confess that the Pope of Rome is the true successor of the Apostle St. Peter, and that he holds the same power, dignity, and dominion, over the whole Christian church. Therefore we promise, offer, and swear sincere obedience to the holy father Urban, by God's grace Pope and our Lord, and throw humbly at his feet our person and our kingdom."
As the Emperor rose from his position, Ras Cella Christos, suddenly drawing his sword, shouted aloud,
" What is now done is done for ever; and whoso in future disclaims the act, shall taste the sharp edge of this trusty weapon. I do homage only to true Catholic kings."
The monks, clergy, and noblemen followed the example of their superiors ; and the assembly was closed by a public edict, proclaimed through the royal herald, that all Abyssinians should, under pain of death, forthwith embrace the Roman religion. Palaces and revenues were set apart for the ministers of the new faith; seminaries for youth were established throughout the country, and baptism and ordination went on in peace. The success of the Jesuits increased rapidly, and many thousand souls were enrolled, who had been converted from the delusions of the Alexandrian creed.
Fr. Diego Laynez, S.J. removed to Brescia early in 1544, where the doctrines of Luther and Calvin were in great favour. He preached, and was admired as usual; but an apostate monk, whose name we must regret not to know, announced that he had arguments against purgatory so conclusive, that Laynez must be silenced by them, if not convinced.
Laynez challenged him to a public contest. In those days such disputes, the chief intellectual amusements of an age when books were still rare, were greatly enjoyed. Numbers thronged to hear the discussion, which was opened by the monk, who went through all his arguments without interruption ; Laynez listening with downcast eyes, in perfect patience, till his antagonist had exhausted his subject.
Then, with the accuracy of a prodigious memory, Laynez went through the objections in the order in which they had been stated, taking up each point, and refuting the Lutheran's view so fully and clearly, that an extraordinary result followed. For not only did the audience pronounce for Laynez, but the monk owned himself vanquished, returned to the faith of the Church, and became a warm friend of Laynez from that time.
A former director of Vatican Radio, Jesuit Father Pasquale Borgomeo, died Thursday in Rome after a long illness. He was 76.
Father Borgomeo was with Vatican Radio for 35 years, and died "with a spirit of acceptance of God's will, accompanied by the prayers of his brothers in the Society of Jesus, his family and friends, and especially, the Holy Father, who was informed of his worsening health," said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, his successor.
Father Lombardi is the director of the Vatican press office, including Vatican Radio and Television.
Father Borgomeo's funeral will be held Saturday.
The priest left the directorship of Vatican Radio in 2005 due to his health condition. He had been named the director 20 years before, in 1985, and this after working as an editor with Vatican Radio since 1970. Father Borgomeo had referred to his role as an "exciting adventure."
Pasquale Borgomeo was born in Naples in 1933. He joined the Jesuits in 1948 and was ordained in 1963.
L'Osservatore Romano said that the priest "pursued no other objective than bringing the voice of the Pope [...] to all the corners of the earth."
I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of two small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.
(Here) is post by Fr. James Martin, S.J. at America's In All Things blog. I am not criticizing the content of the post, however I think it is worth evaluating and pointing to something more self reflective.
