I Got That Feeney Feeling Inside

Fr. Francis X. Clooney, S.J. has written a long negative piece in In All Things (America Magazine Blog) on SSPX, included in his post he talks about a former America editor, Fr. Leonard Feeney, S.J. (M.I.C.M.)

An excerpt.
I did find an interesting pair of articles in debate with Fr. Leonard Feeney, SJ, on salvation outside the Church. Working at St Paul's Parish and the Catholic Student Center at Harvard in the 1940s, Fr Feeney had argued that the consistent position of the Church should be that no person, Christian or non-Christian, outside the Church could be saved. All were damned.

To be candid, I expected that the SSPX website would embrace Fr. Feeney’s stance — but in fact the site does not.

Rather, a 1986 article, “Fr. Feeney and Catholic Doctrine,” argues against the Feeney view, and asserts rather that while one must be baptized to be saved, there are, in addition to baptism by water, also baptism by blood and by desire - that is, by martyrdom and by a deep (and sometimes implicit) longing to participate in Christ. This teaching, vaguely familiar to me from the catechisms of my youth,

Link (here)

Who is Fr. Leonard Feeney, S.J. (M.I.C.M)?

"One of the most outstanding prophets of our time." — Hamish Fraser

"The greatest theologian we have in the United States, by far." — Rev. John J. McEleny, S.J., (Father's Jesuit Provincial)

"The greatest theologian in the Catholic Church today."— John Cardinal Wright

During the 1930's he was literary editor of America, the Jesuit-run Catholic monthly. At the same time, his books, published by some of the major publishers of that time, were becoming standards in Catholic schools and homes all across the country. They include Riddle and Reverie (MacMillan, 1936), Song for a Listener (MacMillan, 1936), You'd Better Come Quietly (Sheed and Ward, 1939), The Leonard Feeney Omnibus (Sheed and Ward, 1943), Your Second Childhood (Bruce Publishing Company, 1945) Mother Seton, an American Woman (Dodd, Mead & Company, 1948), Survival Till Seventeen (Sheed and Ward, 1948).

Father's genius as a writer, speaker and theologian, was attested to by some of the most prominent Catholic figures of his day. Bishop Fulton Sheen once said that the only substitute he would allow on his radio show was Father Feeney. Frank Sheed, of Sheed and Ward said,

"For Father Feeney, dogma is not only true; it is breathlessly exciting. That is his special vocation. . . to make his readers feel the thrill."

During Father's days at Oxford, Lord Cecil, the famous Oxford don admitted, "I am getting more out of my association with Leonard Feeney than he could possibly get from me." Of the Jesuit's writing, Cecil said, "it shines with a pure, clear light."

Link (here)

What is extra ecclesiam nulla salus ?

The Latin phrase Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus means: "Outside the Church there is no salvation". This expression comes from the writings of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, a bishop of the third century. The axiom is often used as short-hand for the doctrine, upheld by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, that the Church is absolutely necessary for salvation. The theological basis for this doctrine is founded on the beliefs that (1) Jesus Christ personally established the one Church; and (2) the Church serves as the means by which the graces won by Christ are communicated to believers.
Link (here)

All Salvation Comes through Christ, by Pope John Paul II (here) May 31, 1995

Born In A Cave

From the blog entitled Santissimo Sacramento the blog of Seminarians from the Diocese of Sacramento, by Colin

The Cave

Today, I went to the main Jesuit church in Rome that we call the Gesu. Attached to it is the building where St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote the constitutions of the Jesuits, had a number of mystical encounters, and where he passed from this life. We celebrated Mass in the room where he lived and died. A Jesuit from the NAC brought us and celebrated the Mass and I thought I would relive his homily for you as it definitely impacted me.

He said that one time his spiritual director, a strong and faithful old Jesuit, asked him, "Do you have a cave?" He was confused at first and didn't get it. But the old Jesuit explained, "Don't you have a place where you go to escape the busyness and chaos of the world and find refreshment in the Lord?" "Yes, yes, of course," he realized. He pointed out that in fact every great saint had a cave where they would escape to with the Lord. Some had physical caves like St. Benedict, I was just there last week, and St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis as well. Our Lord was born in a cave and further, it is most likely that when Jesus went up to pray alone he was in a cave as well. This is St. Benedict's cave below. He lived there three years all by himself!



We need a cave! I'm starting to wish I had a real cave just so I could imitate the spiritual giants. :) I've started to wonder where my caves are. Father mentioned a friend's place he could go to and crash at anytime. I remember a priest who loved to hike up into the mountains and I bet he would consider those trails his cave. I dunno if I have a good cave quite yet. I use the Blessed Sacrament chapel but I also just love walking up above the city on the hill right around our seminary. But I think that is so true. As we discern our callings in life, whatever they are, we need to have a cave which we retreat to every day so that we can be refreshed in the Lord and alone with the Lord.

St. Benedict talked about this sense of coming to yourself. And when you came to yourself you were at a certain equilibrium. There was only 2 ways you could go from there. You could be drawn out of yourself by the world and by sin and fall. Or you could be drawn out of yourself towards God. But he placed importance on this being able to come to ourselves. I think that's part of the reason quiet is so important, why our caves are so important. We can always then be ready to let God draw us out of ourselves to him. And even just coming to ourselves we realize who we are, our sad and sorry state, and our need and desire for God.

Got a cave? AMDG.

Link (here)

The Superior General And The 100th Aniversary Of The California Province

Father Nicolas had spent more than 40 years of his priesthood in Asia, choosing near the end of his term as provincial to serve in a poor parish in Tokyo where he ministered to Filipino and Asian immigrants....

Father Nicolas' busy weekend also included visits to Jesuit-administered Blessed Sacrament Church Catholic Church in Hollywood, Loyola High School of Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University in Westchester - all in conjunction with the opening of the 100th anniversary of the California Province of Jesuits. Altogether, the recently-named Superior General was scheduled to visit 11 cities and nearly 30 different ministry sites over nine days in California.

His visit began with a tour of Homeboy Industries, where Bertha Cordova, a 33-year-old, third-generation gang member, spoke of her journey out of gangs at the lunch with Father Nicolas. Now an office clerk at Homeboy she has received "a lot of help from Father Greg Boyle [Homeboy Industries founder] and the staff. I've been through a lot. When I came here, I came as a broken soul. I had nowhere else to go. It was very hard to break the cycle."

With a 15-year-old son of her own, she told Father Nicolas that she is "trying not to let him walk in the same steps we walked. I'm letting him know that we are here to walk with him."...

At Dolores Mission Church, the Superior General was welcomed by Jesuit Father Scott Santarosa, pastor, and parishioners Esperanza Vasquez and Rosa Campos... After the presentation Father Nicolas was taken on a tour of Dolores Mission, and presided at a concelebrated liturgy at which he thanked the parishioners for their warm hospitality.

For Jesuits serving in the area, the visit was especially significant.

"It was a brother coming to see what his brothers are doing," said Jesuit Fr. Joe Spieler , a marriage and family counselor serving at Dolores Mission. "I am filled with pride and humility at the same time. It reaffirms what we are doing. And he understands our philosophy of having the people ask the question, 'What would the Lord do?' He got that instantly."

Ineed, after the luncheon at Homeboy Industries Father Nicholas told the young women and men, "I can see and I can hear humanity here at its best. It's best because you have been able to come through terrible things and have made the best of yourselves. It's always the best of yourself when you give to others. If religion is about transformation, I think I see it here. It's not how many hours you spend in church. I see transformation here."

Chosen a year ago to be Superior General, Father Nicolas has taken on an enormous task leading over 18,000 men in 95 provinces around the world. But, as Jesuit Father John McGarry, Provincial Superior, noted, "Father Nicolas is a warm and friendly human being, a dedicated priest, a prayerful Jesuit, and a wise and learned leader. I very much look forward to introducing him to the California Province."

Link (here)

Archbishop Vigneron On Cardinal Dulles

The Art of Pastoral Translation at the Service of Communion

by Archbishop Allen Vigneron

Archbishop Allen Vigneron is the new Archbishop of Detroit, appointed January 5, installed January 28, 2009. A member of the Bishops’ Committee for Divine Worship, he has served as Bishop of Oakland since 2003. Before his appointment to Oakland, he was auxiliary bishop in Detroit (1996-2003). In 1994, he became rector/president of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, and had served in the Administrative Section of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Following is the keynote address presented by then-Bishop Vigneron at the Gateway Liturgical Conference held November 7-8, 2008, in St. Louis, published here with his kind permission.

---

Dear Brothers and Sisters — All Beloved as Members in the one Body of Christ Our High-Priest:

I want to express my gratitude for being invited to participate in this year’s Gateway Liturgical Conference.

As part of my prefatory remarks, I ask your indulgence in letting me recall a memory from my adolescence which I bring to this conference. It was in August 1964 that I together with several other high school seminarians traveled by car from Detroit to St. Louis in order to come to Kiel Auditorium for the National Liturgical Week. Among the memories that remain fresh after all those years are these: 1) Being present as Monsignor Martin Hellriegel led the holy Sacrifice of the Mass with a dignity that gave no place for pretense; 2) Hearing the great hymn “For All the Saints” for the first time, and immediately intuiting that it was an expression of music beyond time; and 3) Being caught up in the noble simplicity of that liturgical rite so that I was confident I was experiencing the visible disclosure of the invisible Mystery.

That first visit of mine to a liturgical conference here in St. Louis came some months before the Second Vatican Council was concluded. From those days until now — over forty years later — all of us in the Church have been caught up in the work the Council set for us of renewing the liturgical life of the People of God. With the sort of naïveté that is only proper to adolescence, I did not suspect that more than four full decades later we would still be at it; and least of all did I suspect that I would be here in St. Louis again, focused on this same noble aim — only now addressing you as a member of the College of Bishops.

2. About Liturgiam authenticam and This Conference
The particular focus for our session today is the implementation of Liturgiam authenticam (hereafter LA), a document from the Congregation for Divine Worship “on the use of vernacular languages in the publication of the books of the Roman Liturgy”. Issued on March 28, 2001, LA identifies itself as The Fifth Instruction “For the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council”. And so, you see, it clearly comes to us from the Holy See as an important guidepost about a significant matter: about how to translate the texts of the Roman Liturgy in the vernacular, so that we can achieve the renewal of the liturgy called for by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.

In an address Cardinal Avery Dulles made to the November 2001 meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Cardinal offered what I consider to be a very insightful analysis of the basic end or finality of LA. He said that

“the central purpose of the Instruction [was] to assure the integral transmission of Revelation through the translation of scriptural and liturgical texts”.

He pointed out that LA seeks to achieve this aim “by its dual emphasis on literal accuracy and on language conducive to reverence”.

By insisting on accuracy in translating liturgical texts, LA safeguards, as Cardinal Dulles notes, the content of faith, fides quae creditur; by stressing the sacral mode of expression in the language of liturgical translations — what we could call the “reverential diction” of the translations — LA seeks to safeguard the attitude of faith, fides qua creditur. By both of these moves, according to the Instruction, the vernacular texts of the liturgy will advance rather than hinder the basic end or telos of the liturgy: that is, the communication of the divine realities made present to us through God’s acts of revelation and appropriated by our acts of faith.

Link (here) to the full address

Jesuit Refugee Services Board Member On Obama

Obama Foreign Policy More Aligned With Catholic Teaching, Say Professors

February 2, 2009 by Margaret Boehm

An excerpt.

“We’ve passed through a reconfiguring election in 2008,” said John Langan, S.J., Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Professor of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University.

The topics discussed included poverty, peace, immigration, life issues, nuclear power and the environment.

Stephen Schneck, Director of the Life Cycle Institute opened the discussion about the Obama Administration and the Catholic Social Agenda.

“Given the extraordinary demands of the hour on our consciences as formed by Catholic social teachings, it would be a tragic error I believe for Catholics to stand on the sidelines,” said Schneck.

The lecture was moderated by William Barbieri, associate dean and associate professor of theology and religious studies. Barbieri moderated a panel of experts as they discussed how the Obama administration will address issues important to the Catholic Church.

Leslie Tentler, professor of history and Life Cycle fellow discussed some of the history behind the introduction of Catholic social teaching to the American political scene. Tentler referenced a series of proposals that the National Catholic War Council, the ancestor of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released in 1919. The proposals focused on “remaking American society.”

"This was the first effort of the American bishops to bring Catholic social teaching to politics,” said Tentler. “In the best of circumstances, Catholics will have to compromise,” she said regarding Catholic social teaching in today’s political environment.

“Politics is about negotiations,” said Tentler during the question and answer section of the lecture when asked about abortion legislation. “I do not think in terms of the law that we are going to succeed. I do not think there is a state in the union prepared to pass a law which says abortion cannot happen under no circumstances. People are simply not there and frankly I do not think that most Catholics are there.”

Maryann Cusimano Love, (She serves on the Board for the Jesuit Refugee Service) associate professor of politics at the University said, “There’s some good news to report in the foreign policy area,” regarding Obama’s platform. Love said there is common ground between the Church and Obama on the topics of poverty, peace, globalization and the war on terror.

“The Obama administration is pursuing very different principles, policies and processes and a position that dramatically realigns U.S. foreign policy more with the positions of the Catholic Church,” said Love. At the closing of her presentation, Love referenced the current economic crisis, “as the world economy crumbles perhaps this may be our broadest area and our deepest area for collaboration. The Church and state may be able to powerfully collaborate in protecting the world’s poor and vulnerable.”

Throughout the lecture the words of Pope Benedict were referenced when he said, “we must become a witness to hope for all people around the world.” A quote that Professor Love said could have easily been mistaken as one said by President Obama as he has became a symbol of hope throughout America and the world.

Link (here)

Photo is of Maryann Cusimano Love

Streaming Video:
The Obama Administration and the Catholic Social Agenda (here)

Stephen Schneck Contribution List in 2008 (here)

Schneck contributed $2,300 to pro-abortion Democratic President Barack Obama and $1,000 to pro-abortion Democratic Congressman Thomas Stuart Price "Tom" Perriello Virginia Dist-5

From America Magazine

Real Prevention: Alternatives to Force, by Maryann Cusimano Love January 20, 2003 (here)

From Catholic Answers
What is the Catholic "Just War Doctrine"? (here)

My Top Ten List

Pat McNamara at McNamara's Blog, a historian whose blog is a reverent treasure trove of lore about Catholic life in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century America. (Pat, I am not messing with perfection!) Hit me with his list of top Catholic blog's that he admires, you can read his great list (here).

I have over 350 links on my sidebar and 1,800 posts to pick out which are my favorites can be quite a challenge.

1. Some Have Hats - Karen Hall invented the genre of Ignaciophile blogging, enough said.
   
2. The City and the World - Jesuit scholastic Joe Koczera, is so freaking smart, it scary! He writes as clearly as an encyclopedia, Joe bring ideas to the table that just are not found anywhere else.
3. What Does The Prayer Really Say? - Fr. John T Zuhlsdorf is a blogger extraordinaire, his blog takes ten minutes to load on my laptop because he got a gazillion blog gadgets, my favorite gadget of his is the real time video blog where he sits in front of six or so monitors and field questions on the fly. Fr. Z is known for his expertise on the Traditional Latin Mass but to pigeon hole him as just TLM blogger is not fair, his real "gift" is that of discernment of the Truth of our One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
4. Faith of a Centurion - Fr. Jessel Gerard, S.J. a Jesuit from the Philippines is a voracious blogger who works and weaves the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and Holy Scripture into his work on a daily basis.
   
5. Orthometer - Fr. Erik Richtsteig has an unconventional view the world, one which I slightly understand since I grew up in the world of Devo and Weird Science. His passion and excitement for our faith is phenomenal.
6. Off the Record - Diogenes is unexplainable, but completely understandable. Many Jesuits misunderstand his comments to be negative and mean spirited, those that feel that way are mistaken. He loves the Society.
7. McNamara's Blog - To Irish is to be Catholic, to Catholic is to be Irish, to be Pat McNamara is to be an Irish Catholic.
   
8. St. Robert Bellarmine's Blog- I wish John Michael the blog author was my neighbor. Our blogs started at the same time and we have watched and helped each other figure this blog thing out.
9. Le Fleur de Lys too -Le Roy de Brantigny's take on the world is different than most. He is a Francophile, he has a Catholic Monarchist affinity (An idea which is growing on me) I learn more new and interesting Catholic ideas and facts at Le Fleur de Lys too than from any other blog.
10. Saint Mary Magdalen - Fr Ray Blake is a diocesan priest from Brighton, England. Lets just say that he has extended the parish boundaries a little. He is a movement priest, by that I mean he along with other priests in Great Britain are re-evangelizing Britannia with Sacraments and sound preaching.
    

New Jesuit Blogger

Ryan Rallanka, S.J

I'm currently a Jesuit Scholastic from the Oregon Province. Originally from Sacramento, CA, I attended Seattle University where I double majored in English and Sociology. I am currently missioned to obtain a Master's in Philosophical Resources at Fordham University

Read Ryan's blog (here)

Bohemian Jesuits In The Island of Negros

Bayawan way back in time

Posted by Negros Chronicle

HISTORICAL NOTES
by: REV. FR. ROMAN C. SAGUN. JR.

One may begin to revisit the history of Bayawan by reading the city profile in http:// www.bayawancity.gov.p

In the south-western Island of Negros, the Jesuits opened a mission in Ilog starting way back in 1630.

Among the early Jesuit missionaries was Father Esteban Jaime who worked in the Island for some 27 years between 1632 and 1659. Two years after his arrival, this veteran missionary was joined by Fathers Francisco Angel and Francisco Luzon. At the time, they expanded their missions from Binalbagan to as far as the south-eartern village of Bayawan as bounded by the river at Sicopong.

It was in the second quarter of the eighteenth century when the mission in Negros was entrusted to Jesuit volunteer missionaries from Central Europe. One of them was Father Bernhard Schmitz, a Dutch Jesuit arriving in the Philippines in 1721, who was entrusted with the old town at Ilog in 1730 or thereabouts. In 1732 he was joined by Fathers Anton Malinsky of Prague and Lorenz John of Leitmeritz.

Thanks to my good friend, Pavel Fochler of the Universidad Carolina in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, we have this additional information. Of German nationality, Father Lorenz John was born on 10 August 1691. In 1729, he left Bohemia for the overseas missions and arrived in the Philippines in 1732. Between 1732 and 1735, Father Lorenz John labored so fervently in western Negros, even reaching the point also written in some extant records as Buyonan. In this southern corner of western Negros called Bayawan, Father Lorenz went on monthly missionary expeditions, while noting that this satellite mission station was under the patronage of San Jose and that of the other village named Basay had San Nicolas Tolentino as patron saint.

From1735 to 1737, it was the turn of Father Anton Malinsky to also make pastoral visitations every month. He reported that in mid-1735, a pagan in hatred of Christian believers burnt down the church and mission house recently built in Bayawan. It caused great sadness to the villagers. However, that pagan was soon apprehended and sent to a Bohol fortress for trial.

Father Malinsky noted how the villagers again built anew the church and mission house, all of them again of wooden structures. He took great delight in the skills of the workers who did not need any iron nail for them, and in spite of that, the new structures were strong.

Records of the Jesuit Bohemian province in the Czech lands plainly show that between 1732 and 1737 Bohemian Jesuits from Central Europe contributed considerably to spread the faith among the natives in Bayawan.

Link (here)

The Grandfather Of Liberation Theology

George Tyrrell

Described as a man of 'religious genius', his views became increasingly radical and in the context of the 'Modernist Movement' he was dismissed from the Society in 1906 and deprived of the Sacraments (in effect excommunicated from the Church) in 1907, following his public dissent from the teaching of the papal encyclical condemning Modernism, Pascendi. Two years later, he was refused Catholic burial since he had given no public indication of the recantation of his views. Link (here)

A False Hollywood Version Of A Jesuit

Director Mark Ruffalo will also take an acting role in the film Sympathy For Delicious where he plays a Jesuit priest who helps the DJ explore his gift and accept its limitations. Link (here)

Jesuit Educated CIA Director Nominee Under Scritiny

WASHINGTON -- The White House's nominee for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, has earned more than $700,000 in speaking and consulting fees since the beginning of 2008, with some of the payments coming from troubled financial firms and from a firm that invests in contractors for federal national security agencies, according to financial disclosures released Wednesday.

Link (here)

Panetta is pro-abortion read more (here)

In 1956 he entered Santa Clara University, and in 1960 he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also received a Juris Doctor in 1963 from the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Served as Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University.

In Walked Fr.James Poole, SJ

One spring afternoon in 1977, 15-year-old Rachel Mike tried to kill herself for the third time. An Alaska Native, Rachel was living in a tiny town called Stebbins on a remote island called St. Michael. She lived in a house with three bedrooms and nine siblings. Rachel was a drinker, depressed, and starving. "When my parents were drinking, we didn't eat right," she says. "I just wanted to get away from the drinking."

Rachel walked to the bathroom to fetch the family rifle, propped in the bathtub with the dirty laundry (the house didn't have running water). To make sure the gun worked, Rachel loaded a shell and blew a hole in her bedroom wall. Her father, passed out on his bed, didn't hear the shot. Rachel walked behind their small house. Her arms were too short to put the rifle to her head, so she shot herself in her right leg instead.

Rachel was found screaming in a pool of blood by her Auntie Emily and flown 229 miles to a hospital in Nome. The doctor asked if she wanted to see a priest. She said yes. In walked Father James Poole—a popular priest, radio personality on KNOM,

Read the rest of the heart wrenching story (here)

Photo is of Fr. James Poole, S.J. with some Alaskan children in the 70's

Jesuit Says, "Only The Right Side Of The Cafeteria Is Open"

Benedict Undermining His Own Legacy, by Fr. Thomas J. Reese, S.J.

I highlighted 15 criticisms of Fr. Thomas J. Reese, S.J. of Pope Penedict XVI in just one op-ed piece. Must be a light day?

• The lifting of the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson by Pope Benedict XVI caused a firestorm of protest from Jews and liberal Catholics.

• My disappointment is that while the Vatican is enthusiastic in wooing the right, it has no patience with the left. Only the right side of the cafeteria is open.

• The Vatican is caught by it own theology that sees these men as validly if not licitly ordained. As a result, these bishops can ordain more bishops and the schism can go on forever.

• This latest controversy and others that preceded it (like his Regensburg address) point to a fatal systemic flaw in the Benedict papacy that is destroying his effectiveness as pope: He does not consult experts who might challenge his views and inclinations.

• No one disputes the fact that Benedict is a brilliant theologian, but he is surrounded by people who are not as smart as he is and who would never think of questioning him. How do you challenge someone who you think is the smartest man in the world?

• A smart person surrounded by less than smart people will always get in more trouble than an average person who consults smart people who are experts in their fields.
  

• The fact that Walter Kasper was not consulted on lifting the excommunication is just another in a long line of examples.

• The firestorm that followed the decision should have been foreseen and prepared for. Unnamed sources in the Vatican are saying that they did not know that Williamson was a Shoah denier. Haven't they heard of Google?

• In any other organization, heads would roll after so many disasters, but in the Vatican, loyalty still trumps competence.
  

• The pope needs a good chief of staff who would make sure this kind of thing does not happen.

• Finally, the way in which this decision was communicated to the world was a disaster.
  

• Benedict still acts like a German professor who can demand the undivided attention of his students. He has little PR sense. He needs people to protect him from himself.

• The Vatican still believes that all it has to do is announce a decision by the pope and everyone will greet it with enthusiasm. One-page press releases will not do it.

• The sad thing is that Pope Benedict is saying and doing many great things, but these media disasters are undermining his papacy

• The Vatican's model for the papacy is still the absolute monarchies and royal courts of the past. That model simply will not work today.

Read the full piece (here)

Jesuit On SSPX

On the 21st of this month, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops at the Holy See, issued a decree in the name of Pope Benedict XVI lifting the excommunication imposed on Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta, which they had incurred when, on June 30, 1988, they let themselves be ordained as schismatic bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in Écône, Switzerland.

Lefebvre, although himself a voting participant at the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, had come to believe that Vatican II had deviated so fundamentally from the received tradition of the Catholic faith as to be heretical. At first, his movement -- although often disobedient -- was only a form of protest inside the precincts of the Catholic Church. As long as he did not ordain bishops, his protest would remain an intra-Catholic affair, and it would probably have died out after his death. Fearing just such an eventuality, he finally went ahead and ordained, without permission, the four men named above, who by that act incurred automatic excommunication along, of course, with Archbishop Lefebvre himself (he died an excommunicate on March 25, 1991). At that moment, protest became schism.

From the outset of their protest, his followers refused to celebrate the Mass in its new form (called the Novus Ordo) and insisted on saying the traditional Latin Mass as approved in the wake of the 16th-century Council of Trent (called therefore the Tridentine Mass). Liturgical ritual was not, however, the gravamen of the archbishop's objections. Much more significant were the (for him) doctrinal "innovations" of Vatican II.

As John Allen noted this week in the National Catholic Reporter, three years before his excommunication, Lefebvre wrote Pope John Paul II claiming that Vatican II's promulgated "Declaration on Religious Liberty" had brought in its wake a witch's brew of ruin to the church. Its woes, the archbishop wrote, included

"all the reforms carried out over 20 years within the church to please heretics, schismatics, false religions and declared enemies of the church, such as the Jews, the Communists and the Freemasons."..........

The uproar following the lifting of the excommunications has proved deeply embarrassing to this group. In fact, the head of the Lefebvrist movement, Bishop Fellay, denounced Bishop Williamson and ordered him to keep silent. The trouble is, having himself disobeyed two popes, Bishop Fellay hardly has the authority to order anyone to do anything (such is the fate of all schismatics). If Bishop Williamson disobeys, what can his superior do about it?

What lies behind Benedict's lifting of the excommunication I cannot speculate about here, except to make the obvious point that he desires to end the schism while there is still a chance to. To claim that the pope has any sympathy with these bishops' utterly odious views would clearly be defamatory, as can be seen by remarks he made during his General Audience two days ago:

"Whilst I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our Jewish brothers, I hope the memory of the Shoah [Holocaust] will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man,"

the Holy Father said. The Holocaust, he added, must be "a warning against oblivion, negation or reductionism because violence against even one human being is violence against all."

Needless to say, even after giving these remarks, the pope still has a huge public-relations problem on his hands, and how that will be solved will depend on a number of factors: whether the Lefebvrists admit the teaching authority of Vatican II; whether they discipline the anti-Semites in their midst (or purge them if they prove obstreperous); and whether they can divorce their liturgical traditionalism from their penchant for dictatorial political regimes.

Link (here) to Fr. Edward Oakes, S.J. full article in the Wall Street Journal

Photo is of Fr. Oakes, S.J.

Zazen-Zooy-Roshi-Phooy

Holy Cross Presents Zen Meditation and Social Justice Forum

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross will present a Zen meditation and forum on social justice activism with Rev. Robert Kennedy, S.J., chair (disputed fact) of the theology department at Saint Peter’s College in N.J. and Anna J. Brown, assistant professor of political science at Saint Peter’s College, on Saturday, Feb. 14 from 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. in Rehm Library. Todd Lewis, professor of religious studies at Holy Cross will moderate the forum. The program is free and open to the public. A light lunch will be available.

Kennedy, a Jesuit priest and Zen Roshi (master) will lead an ecumenical meditation program from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. From 1-2:30 p.m., Brown, who directs the Peace and Justice Studies program at Saint Peter’s and practices zazen (a type of Zen meditation), will lead a forum on contemplation and social justice activism.

“Zen must be understood as a verb. In other words, it is the act of doing,” Kennedy says. “What you are doing when you study Zen is nothing other than practicing a compassionate life. More specifically, the practice of Zen is the practice of paying attention in a way that is both sustained and communal.”

Kennedy is one of three ( Fr. Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle, S.J.) Jesuits in the world who answer to both titles “Father” and “Roshi.” He was ordained a priest in Japan in 1965. He was installed as a Zen teacher in 1991 and was given the title Roshi in 1997. Kennedy teaches theology and the Japanese language at Saint Peter’s. He sits with his students daily at the Morning Star Zendo, a meditation hall, located in Jersey City, N.J., and in zendos across the tri-state area. He is also a practicing psychotherapist in New York City and a representative at the United Nations of the Institute for Spiritual Consciousness in Politics. Kennedy is the author of Zen Gifts to Christians (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001) and Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit (Continuum International Publishing Group, 1995).

In addition to her teaching, Brown is a human rights and peace activist. For years, she has opposed nuclear proliferation and has participated in acts of civil disobedience with the Kairos Community in New York City. She recently participated in a nine-day fast and demonstration leading up to the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, DC, calling for the closing of detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay and an end to torture. Brown belongs to a Zen meditation community and regularly gives meditation retreats. She has been part of many international peace delegations.

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit www.holycross.edu/crec.

Link (here)

More links on Zazen (here) , (here) and (here)

A Catholic Zen Buddhist (here)

Father Robert Kennedy, a Catholic priest and Zen master describes how Buddhism teaches Christians the true mystery of God (here)

Beyond Zen (here)

A Zen Retreat - Catholic attends a Buddhist retreat - Brief Article (here)

A Buddhist Catholic Blog (here)

"If Buddhism is attractive, it's only because it suggests that by belonging to it you can touch the infinite, and you can have joy without concrete religious obligations. It's spiritually self-indulgent eroticism.'' - (here)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)

Problems with Zen combined with Christianity (here)

Fr. John Harden S.J. on Zen (here)

Buddha, S.J. (here)

Eastern Spirituality: Work of the Devil or Shortcut to Fulfillment? by Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J. (here)

'Jesus Was A Grand Zen Master' (here)

Teaching Zen Buddhism to the L.A. Housing Department (here)

St. Francis Xavier, S.J. and his encounter with Buddhism (here)

Speaking Engagement

The John Main Seminar - Sarasota, Florida
Led by Robert Kennedy SJ
Jesuit priest and Zen master
When God Disappears
August 27-30, 2009
To Register and for more information
go to www.jms09.com click here

17th Century Italian Jesuit Martino Martini

You'll feel miles away from traffic and smog. If you dig obscure history, an often-overlooked site (west of the front gate of the Siwo brewery on Xixi Lu) is the tomb of Italian Jesuit Martino Martini, an influential missionary in the sixteenth century whose corpse, according to legend, did not decay. Martini's most important work is Novus Atlas Sinensis. Interesting as missionary history is his Brevis Relatio de Numero et Qualitate Christianorum apud Sinas

Link (here)

Picture is of a detailed part of a map of the Province of Peking from Martino Martini’s Novus Atlas Sinensis (Amsterdam, 1665). Martini (1614-1661), the Tyrolese Jesuit, created this atlas, the first major geographical survey of that country published in Europe.

"Lom" From Alaska And Africa

Father William "Lom" J. Loyens, S.J., a member of the Society of Jesus since 1947

Fr. Loyens comments in a deposition about the Alaska abuse trials (here)
Fr. Loyens on the Alaskan Stick Dance Ritual (here)
References to Fr. Loyens in the Alaska lawsuit (here)
An article in the Northwest Jesuit entitled, Back from Africa (here)
Fr. Loyens (Rest in Peace) died December 08, 2004 (here)

The Lost Fifth Week: Jesuit 2.0

Jeff Miller, the Curt Jester launches it out of the park (here)

An excerpt.

St. Ignatius was humble and obedient and such a concept certainly never made it in his teaching. Maybe "Questioning Authority" is in the lost fifth week of the Spiritual Exercises. Jesus told the Apostles "Whoever listens to you listens to me" unless of course you question authority then you can just make it up as you go.......Oddly following Christ was not one of the options. Now I take no pleasure in Jesuit bashing since I am quite an admirer of the Jesuit order historically and those Jesuits who weren't tainted by modernism, but a video and ad campaign such as this drives me crazy.

From Holy Smoke: The Tabletistas have a vested interest in the failure of the Motu Proprio: the liberals would like nothing better than the Tridentine Mass to be associated with the likes of Williamson. Link (here)

Karl Rove At Loyola Marymount University

Karl Rove is coming to our campus (Loyola Marymount University) to speak (Feb. 3, 09) tomorrow, and I hope that all of you come and listen. This is a man of significant political clout. He was the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to former President George W. Bush. Not stunning enough?

Mr. Rove began advising Bush back in 1993 for the 1994 Texas gubernatorial races, and again in 1998 for Bush’s re-election campaign. Bush was victorious again in ‘98 and Rove continued to advise him through his election to the Presidency in 2000. Stopping there would be to fall short; he continued to work with Bush and aided him in his re-election in 2004. Rove retired from the .......Bush administration in August of 2007, citing personal and family-oriented reasons.

There’s your brief biography. You should be stunned. This trend of winning with Bush all started back in 1994. Four major political races were won – two were for the office of the president. If there’s anyone who understands Bush, it’s this man. And if there is anyone who understands a majority of Bush’s policies and knows the various secrets of the White House, it’s this man.

The most amazing thing to me, however, is that Rove was capable of....having Bush elected President not once, but twice. There is, of course, something to be said about the phrase, “It beats the alternative.” This was a phrase that Rove built Bush’s second presidential campaign on.

Link (here) to the opinion article in the Los Angeles Loyolan by Philosophy Major, Alex Tandy. Alex Tandy is a self professed agnostic you can read his diatribe (here) he takes a few shots at the Catholic Church. Go (here) and (here) for a good snapshot look at Catholicism and Philosophy .

For a better Catholic look at President George Bush go (here) to my post, Thank You, President George Bush

A nice piece written in the same college newspaper entitled, 11 Burning Question with Karl Rove (here)

The Loyola Marymount University press release about Karl Rove's speaking engagement (here)

Karl Rove in Wiki (here)

Georgetown University: Number Of Students 14,100 Number Of Jesuits Teaching, 35

Georgetown Jesuits graphed on a downswing

Posted by: Molly Redden in Campus News

It’s Jesuit Heritage Week, which means it’s time to analyze Georgetown’s Jesuits steadily declining numbers!

News will have updated numbers later this week, but the numbers above, which Fr. John Langan provided last year, reveal that as of 2008, Georgetown housed 55 Jesuits, as opposed to 85 in in 1986 and about 100 in 1966.

The little red dot, as noted by the frustratingly small key, represents the number of Georgetown Jesuits actually teaching in Georgetown classrooms—35—as opposed to simply housed in Wolfington Hall. Obdura!

Thank You, Molly!

Source on enrollment (here)

The Jesuits Stensen Institute of Florence And Galileo

The event is planned for this year, Archbishop Ravasi announced that an international academic congress will be held in Florence from 26 to 30 May on the theme: “Galileo Galilei: A new historical, philosophical and theological reading”. Organized by the Jesuit-run Stensen Institute of Florence, the congress is being promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Vatican Observatory. It will be attended by world experts on the subject (theologians, historians and philosophers) such as Fr. George Coyne, S.J. , Evandro Agazzi, Nicola Cabibbo and Annibale Fantoli.

Link (here)

Fr. Louis Richeome, S.J. And The Counter Reformation

Fr. Louis Richeome, S.J. (1544-1625) French humanist and Jesuit. In his time, he was called the "French Cicero" played a crucial role in overcoming prohibitions, if not deep-seated prejudices, against the Jesuit order in 17th century France.

Along with fellow-Jesuit Pierre Cotton and Cardinal Jacques-Davy Du Perron, Louis Richeome completed the trio of leading French Catholic controversialists of his age. All three writers drew heavily on Roberto Bellarmino's exhaustive compendium of arguments against Protestant doctrine,

Disputationes de controversiis christianæ fidei (Iglostadt, 1586; numerous Parisian re-editions), yet each developed a distinctive style through which to rehearse these points. Richeome's specialty lay in his appeal to visual media, a strategy he laid out in the 1601 Tableaux sacrez des figures mystiques du tres-auguste sacrifice et sacrement de l'Eucharistie printed by Laurent Sonnius, a well known publisher and founding member of the powerful counter-reformation editing cartel, the Compagnie du navire. Further editions in 1602, 1604, 1609, 1611, and 1613 attest to its success despite what must have been a fairly steep price, given its expensive illustration.

In it, Richeome urges the reader to "cast his or her mind's eye on one or more of these venerable images…his contemplation will make the soul's eye more diligent and keen, and the heart more eager for heavenly sustenance,

" "jetter les yeux de son entendement, sur un ou plusieurs de ces anciens tableaux […] ceste contemplation luy aura rendu l'œil de l'ame plus attentif et pénetrant, et le cœur plus désireux de la viande celeste" (ẽ3r).

Published ten years before the better-known Peinture spirituelle, Richeome's Tableaux sacrés coincided in France with engraving's definitive replacement of the cheaper woodcut illustrations of the preceding century, and this work set a new standard for the engraver's craft thanks to Léonard Gaultier's consummate artistry. The entire project also owes much to the renewed interest in Philostratus' Images ou tableaux de la platte peinture, triggered by Blaise de Vigenère's translation and commentary in 1578, substantially expanded in a second, posthumous edition by Abel L'Angelier in 1597. L'Angelier collaborated with Sonnius, and with particular frequency around the time that Sonnius was embarking upon the Richeome-Gaultier Tableaux sacrés, producing joint editions in 1594, 1599, 1600 [three different titles], 1601, 1615.1 One copy of the Tableaux sacrés even survives in what appears to be a stylized binding associated with L'Angelier's shop, suggesting that L'Angelier might have acted as an outlet for Sonnius' edition

Link (here)

17th Century Jesuit Provincial Of Lyon And Aquitaine: Fr. Louis Richeome, S.J.

The Eucharist is a Sacrifice, as was the Oblation of Abel, and both a Sacrifice and Sacrament, as was the Paschal Lamb, and many other ancient mysteries: body of our Savior, as it is offered to God in the Mass, is sacrificed...

From page 50 (here) of the 17th Century Jesuit Provincial at Lyon (1586-1592), Aquitaine, and again in Lyon in 1605, and as French assistant in Rome from 1606 to 1616 Fr. Louis Richeome's (Richome) book entitled, Holy Pictures of the Mysticall Figures of the Most Holy Sacrifice and the Eucharist

Che Guevara Or The Jesuits

With all the Che buzz about with the new glorified bio-pick, this little blog post reminds us that evil can be glamorized. The miss guided blog author seems to portray Che as some sort of Lawrence of Arabia.

An excerpt from a travel blog post entitled Che and the Jesuits.

It might be considered a toss-up as to which of Alta Gracia's ( Argentina) two main attractions are of most interest to its many visitors - Che Guevara or the Jesuits. For us there was no question, as we just happened to arrive in the small, colonial mountain town during "Che Week 2005" - immediately apparent due to the profusion of red and black banners of the famous 1960 photo. Although he was born in the city of Rosario in 1928, Che's parents moved to Alta Gracia when he was just four years old, hoping that the dry mountain air would alleviate his severe asthma and allow him to lead a more normal life........

Alta Gracia's main plaza San Martin was abuzz with excitement on Sunday afternoon as dozens of Che Guevara "look alikes" and "wannabies" lined up their ancient but proudly maintained motorcycles in preparation for the scheduled parade. Onlookers were clearly torn between following the motorcycle activities getting underway in front of them, and the initiation of the mass in the Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora de la Merced behind them. Most decided that Che should take precedence, as they would have plenty of opportunity later to visit the expansive Jesuit estancia. We also elected to follow the Che route, keen to acquire more insight into his legendary exploits and his idealistic beliefs that armed combat was the only way to overthrow the aristocratic ruling classes and gain rights for the poor......Back to the Jesuits. Although expelled from the country in 1767, the Jesuits definitely left a legacy of architectural magnificence. Considered one of the finest Jesuit estancias in the province, the spacious structures overlooking the Plaza continue to service the religious needs of the community, as well as providing quarters for a museum and a public school. On a rainy afternoon's walk of the area, we noted that the Jesuits were also responsible for constructing a complex system of irrigation, visible still in the Tajamar - one of (nice link) Alta Gracia's 17th century dams - which still serves as a central feature of the town. Many other residences, workshops, chapels and monuments are evidence of the vigorous activity and remarkable success achieved by the Jesuits over a period of only a hundred and fifty years.

Read the full blog post (here) entitled Che and the Jesuits.

Photo is Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra Señora de la Merced (Our Lady of Mercy)

The real Che is a cold blooded mass murder, international terrorist, atheist and card carrying commie.

Che's book on how to conduct terrorist activities (here)

180 DOCUMENTED VICTIMS OF CHÉ GUEVARA IN CUBA: 1957 TO 1959 (must read) (here)