Sainte-Marie Among The Hurons

Sainte-Marie was founded by French Jesuits in 1639 in the land of the Wendat, Ouendat, or Huron people The mission was designed as a retreat for itinerant missionaries and a refuge for Christian Wendat. It also stood as an example of French culture in the isolated heart of New France.

The Wendat shared their knowledge with the European newcomers, and the little mission struggled to become self-sufficient. The Frenchmen planted gardens and imported livestock from Quebec by canoe. In 1648, Sainte-Marie was home to one-fifth of the European population of New France

However, as Sainte-Marie appeared to prosper, despair and resentment grew in many Wendat communities. Cultures and ideologies were in almost daily conflict. Epidemics of influenza, measles and smallpox proved deadly to the Wendat. The situation was compounded by the rekindling of traditional rivalries between the Wendat and Iroquois.

A chance rediscovery in Europe of an old process for felting beaver fur set off a fashion trend for beaver hats. This fad was to have desparate consequences for the Wendat people. The burgeoning fur trade pitted the Iroquois, backed by Dutch merchants along the Hudson River, against the Wendat who traded with the French merchants along the St. Lawrence.

In July of 1648 the Iroquois attacked the village of St. Joseph and Father Antoine Daniel lost his life. A year later, Fathers Jean de Brefeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, along with hundreds of Wendat, were captured and killed. Survivors scattered; some to Michigan and Ohio (three hundred years some of the descendants of these Wendats would become members of the Wyandot Nation of Kansas). Meanwhile, Sainte-Marie waited tensely for an attack that never came.

Later that spring, the Jesuits and some of their Wendat followers abandoned Sainte-Marie, setting fire to the mission, and traveled by canoe to an island (today called Christian Island). There, they established Sainte-Marie II. After a winter of terrible hardship and starvation at Sainte-Marie II, the Jesuits decided to abandon their mission in Wendake. Accompanied by a few hundred Christian Wendat, they returned to Quebec in 1650.

The wilderness claimed the ruins of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.

Link (here)

Alfred Hitchcock's Jesuit Connections

The Jesuit film expert, Father Dermot Preston, argues that this nuanced view of the human condition is highly Catholic: "In a Hitchcock film, personalities are always cast as various shades on the middle part of the spectrum, avoiding the plastercast saint and the personification of evil: clean-cut (video link) James Stewart in Rear Window (1954) starts out as a rather uncommitted and morally neutral observer of life and learns in a hard way that he cannot be so.”

"In a secular world, his characters are very Catholic," agrees Father Richard Blake SJ, author of Afterimage: The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers. “They actively pursue their own “salvation” in trying circumstances. They get into a pickle and depend on themselves to get out of it. There is no Protestant “by faith alone” at work here. When most threatened, the character is alone; salvation is assured when he works his way back into a community, for instance in Rear Window or North By Northwest (1959)."

Born into a devoutly Roman Catholic family in the East End of London in 1899, (excellent link) Alfred Hitchcock was the nephew of a priest, and according to McGilligan, continued to go to Mass for most of his adult life. He would invite priest friends onto film sets, gave money to Catholic causes and even donated a vineyard to a community of Californian priests.

"For Hitchcock Catholicism was something he was born with, as others might be born with red hair. It did not phase him" claims John Russell Taylor, Hitchcock's first and only authorised biographer (Hitch: the Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, 1978). "He was certainly esctatic when his daughter Pat married a nephew of the Catholic archbishop of Boston. I don't know how devout he was, but he certainly remained a Catholic."

Interviewed in 1973 for the magazine of his Jesuit alma mater St Ignatius College, Hitchcock shied from defining his faith explaining:

"A claim to be religious rests entirely on your own conscience, whether you believe or not. A Catholic attitude was indoctrinated into me. After all I was born a Catholic. I went to a Catholic School and I now have a conscience with lots of trials over belief,"

he said. Claiming his Jesuit schooling had developed his "reasoning powers" but also "a sense of fear",

Hitchcock would relate a celebrated incident where he had to choose the exact time for a beating, according to the Jesuit system where the master who ordered a punishment was not allowed to personally inflict it.

This incident, Hitchcock alleged was "in a minor way" like going through a form of execution
Link (here)

The Not So Poor "Poor Clare's" At Loyola Chicago

It's a building that critics say caters only to millionaire senior citizens looking for tax-free real estate; offering "resort-style services and amenities" including gourmet dining, concierge and housekeeping, valet parking, along with an aquatic center, day spa and art gallery.

The new Clare condo owners were told they can live there tax free because it is owned and operated by a non-profit religious organization through a 99-year lease from Loyola University.

"A change of ownership and use triggered the assessment process and The Clare was sent a preliminary notice on September 24th," explained Eric Herman from the Cook County Assessor's Office, "in James Houlihan's eyes, the ownership has changed." While Loyola used the previous building at that address it had an "educational" tax exempt status. The assessor determined that the status of the property has changed as well.

In an e-mail statement provided to the I-Team Thursday evening, Clare spokesman Kevin Rose defended the property tax exemption. "The primary mission of the Clare is to provide a wide range of services to residents and the community, including services specifically designed to meet the needs of the elderly. The Franciscan Sisters of Chicago Service Corporation (FSCSC) believes the Clare property should be exempt from real estate taxes because the Clare is a religious, educational and charitable ministry."

Note: The Poor Clare's of Chicago are not a part of this project. The building is named after the foundress of all Franciscan sister's St. Clare.

Read the full story (here)

Jesuit Mission In Cambodia

Richard Fernando, SJ

1970 –1996

In 1996 Richie Fernando SJ was killed aged 26 years by a hand grenade released by a student in the Jesuit Refugee Service technical school for the handicapped near Phnom Penh. On January 3, 1996 Richie wrote in his diary:

"I wish, when I die, people remember not how great, powerful, or talented I was, but that I served and spoke for the truth, I gave witness to what is right, I was sincere in all my works and actions, in other words, I loved and I followed Christ."

Richie Fernando was a long way from home. He was a Filipino Jesuit in Buddhist Cambodia. He was educated and full of promise in a camp where refugees maimed by bullets and land mines and scarred by hunger and disease fought for hope. He loved life in a land where life was hard and death nearby.

Richie went to Cambodia in May 1995 as part of his Jesuit training. He had entered the Society in 1990 and finished the novitiate and collegiate studies. Before going on to theology studies and ordination, he was sent to work at Banteay Prieb, a Jesuit technical school for the handicapped not far from Phnom Penh.

Banteay Prieb describes itself as a "place that enables the disabled to tell their own stories, to gather strength and hope from being with one another, and to learn a new skill that enhances a sense of dignity and worth." Here people disabled by landmines, polio, and accidents learn skills that allow them to earn a living. Banteay Prieb means "the Center of the Dove."

Read the rest of Ritchie's story (here)

Hat Tip to Ignaciophile from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Daniel Liew's (here) post is entitled, Finding God in all things - Day 1

Daniel talks about his first experiences in a Jesuit retreat/vocations program in Singapore

Jesuit Saint And Jesuit Missionaries

Coat of Arms for Nasugbu Parish

I would like to that Fr. David O. Reyes, Jr. for putting this great post together. I could not break it up or shorten it, because it would loose to much. Please visit Fathers blog site entitled Slingshots! (here)

I was recently asked to design the coat of arms of Saint Francis Xavier Parish, Nasugbu, Batangas... I willingly accepted the request over a cup of Batangas coffee.

Msgr. Madlangbayan, the parish priest, showed us around his parish church. I was impressed by the artistry lavished in his churh, and we were very much honored when the good Monsignor had his melodic carillon bells rung just for us.

The Coat of Arms' Meaning: Dominant within the arms is the Cross with the initials "IHS" at its center. It is firmly planted on the island. The IHS is a common symbol used to represent Christ, and it is also a common symbol used by the Society of Jesus. Hence, it symbolizes that the parish of Nasugbu owes its firm faith to the Jesuits, the missionaries who founded Nasugbu. The wooden cross is also a symbol of Nasugbu's patron, the Jesuit saint Francis Xavier.

The scallop is another symbol of Saint Francis Xavier, and it is depicted here with three drops of water, which is reminiscent of the Holy Trinity. It reminds us of the missionary zeal of Francis when, as a Jesuit missionary, he wrote to Saint Ignatius his experiences as a missionary:

"We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. The country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God's Law. I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

The symbol of the Star with the ladder and the tower represents the parish's secondary and well-loved patroness, the Nuestra Senora Virgen de la Escalera. According to legend, the Blessed Virgin appeared on the staircase of the hacienda of the Roxas family, hence her title as Nuestra Senora Virgen de la Escalera. It is also said that the Jesuits as well as the Roxas family already had a devotion to La Virgen de la Escalera because they gave thanks to her when they crossed the ocean going to Spain. History has it that the image of Nuestra Senora Virgen de la Escalera in Mexico was placed on the top of the tower of fort San Juan de Uluaa so that she can protect Veracruz Bay, which was an important treasury for the Manila-Acapulco-Veracruz-Spain galleon trade. She was honored for hundreds of years as the patroness of travelers from Spain to Mexico because the voyage was dangerous and long. It is most plausible that the devotion was brought to the Philippines via this trade route, Nasugbu serving as a port for these galleons considering its proximity to Manila.

The image of the island surrounded by sea water reminds us of the beauty that is Nasugbu, known for its beaches and scenic seashore.

Attachment: I have attached some pictures of the Nasugbu Church, which I have downloaded from their website. You may also wish to visit their website: www.nasugbuchurch.com

Jesuit Cardinal On Sacred Scripture

What Is Needed for a Bible Comeback (Part 2)

Interview With Cardinal Albert Vanhoye

By Father Lucas Teixeira, LC

ROME, OCT. 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- A renowned biblical scholar who will be participating in the synod of bishops on the word of God has advice for the faithful who don't know where to start to get to know the Bible better.

Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, a Jesuit priest and former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and former secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, spoke with ZENIT about sacred Scripture and the synod that opens today.

He has been a professor at the Biblical Institute since 1963, where he has taught New Testament exegesis since 1998, giving courses on the Letter to the Hebrews and St. Paul's letters, as well as courses in methodology, Biblical theology and seminars on the Gospels, the New Testament letters, and the Book of Revelation.

He took part in the drafting of documents from the Pontifical Biblical Commission such as "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church" (1993) and "The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible" (2001).

Part 1 of this interview was published Friday.

Q: The synod is arousing and will arouse a renewed interest in the Bible. What plan would you suggest to the faithful to follow who want to know the word of God better?

Cardinal Vanhoye: It is clear that for the Christian it is necessary to begin with the Gospel, to delve into it in meditation, in prayer, to apply it to your own life. This is the first essential thing. But the Gospel itself points to the Old Testament. Jesus is the promised Messiah. So, it is helpful to read the prophetic texts, especially the messianic ones.

The Psalms are useful for prayer, but it must be said that they do not always have the Gospel spirit. A distinction has to be made, then. Some Psalms are full of curses against enemies, they are very far from Jesus' precept about loving enemies and praying for them. It is clear that it is necessary for the faithful to have the assistance of aids that present the texts and place them at the intellectual level of the faithful, their capacity to understand and live.

Then among the Gospels there is a difference between the Synoptics and John's Gospel. From the point of view of the faithful the most interesting Gospel is Mark's, which is very lively, which tells of miracles in a very detailed way, etc. The Gospel of Matthew gives a richer teaching and so it is necessary to always return to it to be filled again with the evangelical spirit. On the other hand, John's Gospel goes deeply into the faith in a marvelous way. It is necessary to really meditate on John's Gospel, to grasp it in faith and love for the Lord. Luke, too, is very interesting. It is the disciple's Gospel.

It would also be possible to start with Luke's Gospel, which occupies itself more with the disciple's relationship to the Lord Jesus. The great discourses of Matthew are broken up in Luke's Gospel. The beatitudes, instead of being expressed in the third person are addressed directly to the disciples: "Blessed are you poor… ." This is an example. Then Luke relates himself to Jesus in a very delicate way, especially in the account of the Passion. There you see his delicate love for the Lord very well; his way of softening the most cruel, most offensive things.

Q: For young priests, the Psalms can sometimes seem distant from their own concrete reality. What advice would you give them for profiting more from the Liturgy of the Hours?

Cardinal Vanhoye: I would advise them to find a good commentary, that is, a commentary that goes into the depths, not purely philological, historical-critical, a commentary that highlights the spiritual content of the Psalms. Because it is clear that from the spiritual point of view the Psalms contain a marvelous wealth: There is the sense of adoration, the sense of confidence in God, the sense of union with God in prayer, in life. There are truly very beautiful and very powerful spiritual aspirations in the Psalms. St. Ambrose said that the Psalter is the summary of the entire Old Testament, because there are also historical Psalms, sapiential Psalms, Psalms of welcoming of the law of the Lord, etc.

After the Council the application of the Psalms to Christian life was facilitated by the omission of the things that were furthest from the Gospel. This was in my opinion a good thing because the Christian cannot, for example, wish for the children of persecutors to be smashed into the ground, as it says in the Psalm of the Babylonian exiles. This Psalm expresses a very deep and tender affection for Jerusalem, but it ends with the most cruel wishes against enemies. It seems opportune and useful from the point of view of the acceptance of the Word of God to omit things that have been corrected by Jesus.

Q: The synod will also concern itself with sacred Scripture in the context of ecumenism. Have you had some experience of work, study or prayer in this field?

Cardinal Vanhoye: I participated in the French ecumenical translation, a very fruitful undertaking from the ecumenical perspective that was inspired by the Council. It is claimed that the Bible is truly a site of unity. Naturally, there are Biblical texts that have been an occasion for very strong differences of opinion. But there are many things in common and we must profit from them. The synod will have this aspect of ecumenical openness. It is clear that if a Protestant follows Luther's "sola scriptura," he is not in the current of the Tradition. There is a problem. But, on the other hand, Catholics have a tendency not to meditate much on the Bible, and to be more attentive to the dogmas and devotions. So, the attention given to the written Word of God is certainly a very strong connection that helps us to come closer together in mutual acceptance.

Q: You knew and taught many exegetes. How is it possible to avoid turning the Bible into a mere object of study detached from one's own spiritual life and to avoid drawing conclusions that could place the truths of faith in doubt?

Cardinal Vanhoye: It seems to me that the principal remedy is meditation on the Biblical texts in an attitude of faith and prayer. Exegetes cannot just stop at studying the texts. They have to meditate on them in an atmosphere of union with the Lord, of seeking him and being always aware that Christ alone gives us all the wealth of inspired Scripture, that it is he who completely opens our minds to the understanding of Scripture, as the Gospel of Luke says at the end. Therefore, the remedy, I would say, is prayer, understood as meditation that seeks union with the Lord, welcoming his light, welcoming his love. Only this can keep us from the danger of a rationalistic and sterilizing attitude; that can become an obstacle for the life of the faithful.

Q: What are your expectations for the synod? Will it also have some influence on Biblical studies?

Cardinal Vanhoye: I am not certain that the synod could influence exegetical studies much in the pastoral sense. It is a perspective that will certainly also enter into the explanation of Biblical texts, but exegesis is an in-depth scientific study, from a perspective that is not directly pastoral. From the synod we can certainly expect very fruitful indications about having a greater knowledge of the Bible, a greater integration of the Bible in the life of Christian communities and in people's spiritual lives.

There is also an ecumenical interest, which is directly expressed in the "instrumentum laboris." We can hope for a greater reconciliation of the various Christian confessions thanks to this acceptance of the written Word of God. The "instrumentum laboris" gives the impression that the synod will especially concern itself with the written Word of God, even if it broadens its perspective. It says that the Word of God is Christ and so it says that the purpose of the synod is to make Christ better known. This seems true to me as the ultimate purpose but the more immediate purpose will obviously be to draw attention to the necessity of a stronger and more profound contact with the written word of God by the whole Church.

Naturally, the written word must once again become living, and it cannot remain a dead text, and so that it become living again it must be inserted into the living current of the Tradition, also of the preaching and life of the Church.

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On the Net:

Part 1: www.zenit.org/article-23796?l=english

We Are Not Born Perfect

Balthasar Gracian, 17thC Jesuit priest

A Man at his Highest Point.

We are not born perfect: every day we develop in our personality and in our calling till we reach the highest point of our completed being, to the full round of our accomplishments, of our excellences. This is known by the purity of our taste, the clearness of our thought, the maturity of our judgment, and the firmness of our will. Some never arrive at being complete; somewhat is always awanting: others ripen late. The complete man, wise in speech, prudent in act, is admitted to the familiar intimacy of discreet persons, is even sought for by them.

Link (here)

The book, The Art of Worldly Wisdom

By the Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracián

Before He Was A Jesuit Saint: The Death Of His Wife

The year is 1527 and the place is Alcalá de Henares, a university town just east of Madrid. Two future Jesuit saints happen to pass by each other on the road.

One of the travelers is magnificently costumed and accompanied by a grand procession; his passing through town is a rare spectacle of power and prestige. People come out of their homes and shops to gawk at the parade as it passes by. This great nobleman is 17-year-old Francisco de Borja y Aragon, the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI on one side and King Ferdinand I of Aragon on the other. His procession leads towards the court of Charles V where young Francisco will enter into an arranged marriage with the daughter of Portuguese royalty, Eleanor de Castro Melo e Menezes.

The other traveler is considerably less memorable and appears to be a simple wayward monk in a tattered grey robe. However, this poor man is noticed by Francisco because he is being taken into custody by the Inquisition, Dominicans from nearby Toledo. He is charged with being an illuminist in league with radical charismatics, men and women who claim direct experience of God. This 36-year-old student is none other than Íñigo Oñaz López de Loyola, the future founder of the Jesuits.

Link to the full post entitled, Memorial of St. Francis Borgia, SJ
the blog is the Jesuit Vocations in the Northwest
Painting is of St. Francis Borja, S.J. at the death of his wife

Saints Go Marching !!!

Book of All Saints: More Jesuits weigh in.

If you have been following Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ as he makes the rounds in explaining and illuminating on Adrienne von Speyr's The Book of All Saints (supposedly only one 26th -!- of her writings on this sort of mystical matters) you will doubtlessly be fascinated by the book and its contents and history.

Another heavyweight Jesuit, Fr. Jacques Servais, SJ has weighed in. Father is the director of Casa Balthasar in Rome, and another expert of the theology of von Balthasar (himself a Jesuit who became von Speyr's confessor/director for 40-odd years) and who credited von Speyr with "half" of his output. Fr. Fessio is likewise an expert on von Balthasar, as is, interestingly enough, Benedict XVI.

Read the full post (here) at Some Wear Clerics, thank you Joe Garcia.

Jesuit On The Complex Problem Of Europe And The Current State Of European Catholicism

Arab Scholar: Europe's Lack of Faith Surprising

GRANADA, Spain, OCT. 1, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Europe's disassociation with its Christian roots is "shocking" to Eastern Christians who remember the continent's missionaries who evangelized the Americas, Asia and Africa, says a scholar of Arabic studies.

Jesuit Father Samir Khalil Samir, director of the research and documentation center for Arabic Christianity at the University of St. Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon, said Eastern Christians find it surprising that Europe is now "so removed from its faith."

He made this comment last week while in Granada for the 7th International Conference of Christian Arabic Studies, which was attended by some 180 participants.

The congress was held simultaneously with the 10th Symposium Syriacum. Both were hosted by the International Center for the Study of the Christian Orient.

Father Samir explained that the concept of secularity in the East is very different from the secularism of the West. He said that Western secularism "seeks to exclude the expression of the Christian faith in the public sphere, relegating it to the privacy of individuals."

In the East, he continued, there is "positive secularity," which seeks to "differentiate between politics and religion, but not separate them."

"We cannot leave religion out of political decision-making because religion represents an ethical tradition of humanity," the Jesuit priest said.

In regard to the dialogue between Christians and Muslims, Father Samir explained that "the struggle for this dialogue is internal, within Islam: between an extremist conception of Islam and a more open and tolerant conception."

"The relation between neighbors can be more or less good, according to the degree of tolerance or intolerance of the Muslim majority vis-à-vis Christians," he noted, though it is far from genuine religious liberty.

In this connection, the Jesuit appealed to the responsibility of the international community to commit itself to achieving this religious liberty for all people: "It is very important that powerful countries exert pressure on those that do not respect the rights of man, especially those that do not respect religious liberty."

Link (here)

The Pontifical Oriental Institute

Pope Benedict XV founded the Institute in 1917 to be a center dedicated to advanced studies on Eastern Christianity. The mission of the Oriental Institute is to study, explain, and make better known the life and tradition of these churches.

The Eastern Churches

Christianity was born in the Holy Land. From the first centuries of Christianity on, the churches developed in distinctive Eastern and Western forms. In the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and beyond its Eastern borders, there appeared successively: 1) the Assyrian Church of the East, 2) the Oriental Orthodox (Pre-Chalcedonian) Churches, and 3) the Eastern (Byzantine) Orthodox Churches, and finally 4) the Eastern Catholic Churches. All these churches grew - and are still present in - the Near East, Eastern Europe, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea and southern India. From those historic homelands, Eastern churches have spread throughout the world. The Pontifical Oriental Institute studies all these churches

At the Service of the Eastern Churches

In its history over 6,000 students have studied at the Oriental Institute and over 500 have completed doctorates.Students come from all the Eastern churches, but also include Roman Catholics, Protestants, and non-Christians. Scholars representing the many churches studied and of other backgrounds come to the Oriental Institute to do research. Many former students go on to teach in seminaries and universities in their home countries. A number of Oriental Institute alumni serve as bishops both in Orthodox and Catholic churches. The Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, is one of the Institute's best known alumni. The Oriental Institute is a papal foundation under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See. It is administered by the Jesuits (the Society of Jesus) and belongs to the consortium of Jesuit academic institutions in Rome: the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the pontifical Gregorian University, and the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Go and visit the POI site (here)

Jesuits And Villagers Under Attack In India By Religous Hindus And The Local Police

Orissa:

Priest alleges witnessing gang rape, murder (burnt alive)

SOMAK SEN 04 October 2008, Saturday

A SENIOR priest revealed a grim fact to media on Saturday (October 4) that

Rajani Majhi, a 20-years-old girl (who was mistaken for a Christian by a mob) was brutally gang raped on August 25 before being burnt alive at the orphanage of Bargarh district in Orissa.

The victim, who was originally a Hindu, worked in an orphanage run by a church. TV Peter, the Sambalpur diocese stated that he was ready to disclose the entire incident before a court of law, which took place in front of the police on that unfortunate day.

According to the priest, the entire incident was allegedly perpetrated in front of a group of policemen by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal-led mob at the orphanage, located in Padampur village of Bargarh district. The fanatics mistook Rajani for a Christian girl, who was adopted by a childless couple. The priest also reported that the policemen acted as silent spectators rather than rescuing her.

Rajani was a student of the Padampur Women’s College. She financed her education by working in the orphanage meant for children of leprosy patients. The orphanage was set ablaze by the mob. The orphanage was run by Jesuit priest, Father Edward Secuira. On that fateful day, some miscreants banged at the door of the priest’s room. At that time, Father Secuira was taking rest in an ante-room, adjacent to the boys’ hostel in the orphanage. As he opened the door, he was dragged to the courtyard and beaten up

Link (here)

Photo is of protesters of Barjrang Dal-led in 2004 read the story behind this picture (here)

Read this great post at the Black Cordelia's

Orissa, India: How A 20 Year Old Girl Was Burnt To Death In An Orphange By A Cheering Crowd

Marquette Theology Professor On Obama

It's the first time a black candidate has secured the nomination of a major U.S. political party in a presidential contest, proving the nation has made significant progress in how it deals with race, said Father Bryan N. Massingale, 51, a black associate professor of theology at Jesuit-run Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Racial tensions, however, surfaced during the Democratic primaries and have continued into the general election season, demonstrating the country has a long way to go before it can enjoy genuine equality, Father Massingale said.

Read the full length of the article (here) .

Read Fr. Bryan's bio (here) .

Lasting Salvation Is All That Really Matters

When Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Akimel O'odham (Pima) village of Tumacacori in January 1691, he did little more than celebrate Mass and promise the natives lasting salvation.

But since he arrived there a day before he did the same in nearby Guevavi, technically, the Mission Tumacacori is the oldest, if not the most famous and most visited, Spanish Colonial mission in Arizona.

Last year, some 45,000 visitors walked the shady grounds of Mission Tumacacori. That's a far cry from the approximately 200,000 that flocked to San Xavier del Bac, its more famous and prettier sister to the north. The experience at Tumacacori is very different from the still-living traditions available at San Xavier--it's as much about experiencing a long-lost landscape as it is about seeing a crumbling church ruin.

For many years, the church was an adobe hovel on the east side of the Santa Cruz River, which back in those days flowed seasonally and gave the O'odham their lives.

Link (here) to the full article.

Fr. Felix Lobo, S.J. "Rest In Peace"

From the Jesuit Ignaciophile blog Brittonia

Fr. Felix Lobo, S.J. was born in Segovia, Spain, on 4 September 1926. He was very proud of his ancient city, which has such landmarks as the Roman Aqueduct, Alcazar Castle, and a magnificent cathedral. When I visited him there in 1990, he took me around to all these sights and treated me to Cordero asado estilo Segovia and finally took me to a real village bodega to taste the local wine.

He joined the Jesuits on 31 August 1943 and came to Japan in 1952 as a Jesuit missionary. Ordained a priest in 1959, he spent most of his life at Sophia University as a professor in the Spanish Language Department. After retirement, he kept himself busy writing language-learning materials and assisting in the Jesuit Parish of St. Ignatius.

Although he was still active and healthy-looking, he moved of his own accord to the Loyola Retirement House in a suburb of Tokyo, about two years ago.........Besides being a priest, Felix was professionally a linguist, a psycholinguist. He did his doctoral studies at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and became a devoted student, friend, and admirer of Dr. Robert Lado. When he returned to Japan, he took an active part in boosting linguistic studies at Sophia University.

In cooperation with several Japanese colleagues, such as the well-known scholar Kindaiichi, he re-organized the linguistics curriculum and established the graduate school of linguistics. In the 1970s, he was also well-known as a Spanish teacher on Japanese Educational TV channel.

He served for many years, sometimes even simultaneously, as the Head of the Spanish Language Department, Head of the Graduate School of Linguistics, Head of SOLIFIC [Sophia Linguistic Institute for International Communication], and Head of undergraduate section of Linguistics. He was also for many years one of the chief editors of Sophia Linguistica and several other linguistics-related and Spanish-related publications from Sophia.

Although Felix himself wrote few well-known treatises on linguistics, he was an able organizer, coordinator, stimulator and mentor. He was instrumental in bringing some of the most well-known linguists of the world, such as Chomsky, Halliday, Lado, and Crystal, to Sophia and several of his students are professors of linguistics in Japan.

He also encouraged many Japanese colleagues and students to study overseas, and there are several Georgetown graduates in Japan, thanks to his PR for his alma mater. Felix was a cordial, warm, and affectionate person who elicited affection and love from the people he moved with. He was also very faithful to his friends and to those who did him favors, treating them to lavish luncheons and parties. He rarely forgot any good deed done to him, and he loved to praise each woman he met as 'the most beautiful and charming' and every man as 'the most talented in the world.' Perhaps the secret of his stable felicity was his ability to feel thankful all the time, attributing every good thing that happened to him as the result of God's and people's love for him.

Read the full post entitled, Professor Emeritus Felix Lobo Passes Away

Sarah From The Right, Sarah From The Left

From the right

For the left to deceive themselves and the voters by pretending that that debate last night went any way other than Sarah Palin absolutely mopping the floor with Joe Biden, is nothing short of delusion. Now, yeah, Biden may be filled with Washington-speak. You know what his best friend last night was? The clock! One thing I noticed was that Gwen Ifill did not give this guy a chance to start rambling with diarrhea of the mouth. She kept those time limits dead certain. She also gave him the last word three times to every one time she got it. Now, if you're impressed with Washington-speak, no matter what it is... I mean, Biden's never been in a Home Depot unless he went in there to see if he could get a repair kit for his cuff links. He's never been into a Home Depot. Joe Biden doesn't know the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah; he doesn't know where Gaza is. They talk about Sarah Palin not having her bona fides here on foreign policy! Sarah Palin came off as more experienced and qualified, personable and able to connect with people than Obama does, and that's where she shined last night. She was knockout gorgeous. She looked good last night, charming, pleasant, likable, witty. She was on point. She did not appear contrived.

See Rush Limbaugh's full analysis of the debate (here)

Now this what political expert Sean Micheal Winters posted (here) at the America Magazine blog In All Things

From the Left

An excerpt.

The expectations of high drama were those that attend an execution. All this past week, Americans were treated to Gov. Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric. Palin’s performance was dreadful; some of her replies were so unintelligible, you wondered if she was speaking in tongues. The confidant, sharp, attacking woman who had mesmerized the nation with her convention speech in St. Paul disappeared, replaced but an uninformed, deer-in-the-headlight, rube. Conservative columnists were questioning whether she should step aside.

Last night, Gov. Palin stopped the bleeding. She was able to answer all the questions or, as she herself said, answer the questions she wanted to answer. I think a candidate, especially a first-time national candidate, gets points when they assert themselves against the moderator and their opponent as Palin did. Her answers tended to be a bit sophomoric: some had details, some had broad strokes, but no answer demonstrated the ability to connect the details to the overarching philosophy of the candidates.

I thought her "aw shucks" demeanor would strike a chord with middle America especially in contrast to Sen. Joe Biden’s more senatorial bearing. My debate-watching partner disagreed: He thought of the debate as an interview or a professional presentation in which homey analogies would never be used. Evidently, he was right and I was wrong. The polls immediately after the debate showed Americans scoring the debate for Biden by 51-39 percent, even though 70 percent said Biden looked like a more typical politician.

Watch the full debate (here)

Palin Performance Helps McCain Regain Political Footing

Analysts say Sarah Palin, with a cool and confident performance at Thursday night's debate, helped running mate John McCain regain his footing going into the final month of the presidential race.

read the full article (here)


Poll: Sarah Palin Bests Joe Biden in Debate Expectations Game, More Likable

Jesuit Told "No" To The Traditional Latin Mass In Great Britian

Mass and Invariance

The Catholic Church has often enforced unity with ferocity. Yet in the present culture war (officially denied, of course) real unity seems far away. As the Pope's intentions become clear (Cardinal Castrillon said that the Pope wants to make the old rite available "in all the parishes" of England and Wales) the English bishops have fallen into a curious silence.

The parish priest of a famous Jesuit church, politely asked whether he would make some traditional masses available, responded with unconcealed rage. (This church advertises a children's liturgy, Japanese masses, services for Brazilians and Filipinos, but apparently drew the line at the ancient Roman liturgy).

The dispute about liturgy is part of a wider battle. Those who want to align the Church with modernity, which inevitably means drawing on current liberal values, became influential following Vatican II. But if they hoped that the Church would change its stance on liberation theology, divorce, homosexuality, the ordination of women, they found their nemesis in John Paul II . Woytila's reassertion of tradition in all these areas was less flamboyant than Pio Nono's famous denial that "the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to come to terms with progress, liberalism and the modern world," but it came to much the same thing.

Link to a wonderful and lengthy piece entitled, Rediscovering traditionalism by John Casey

A different Jesuit from the one cited, but with similar circumstances was California Jesuit Fr. Philip L. Bourret. Hit the link below for a detailed account.

Jesuit Who Was Ordered To Stop Saying Latin Mass Dies

Damian Thompson does a nice over view of Mass difficulties, his piece is entitled,

Spinning the return of Latin Mass.

Photo is of Cardinal Castrillon, If anyone knows the name or can cite another reference to "the Jesuit" please let us know in combox.

Authority Issues

Margaret Steinfels, (Former editor of the ultra-left Catholic magazine, The Commonweal) co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion & Culture, notes that many groups that start with calling for simple changes end up challenging such canon laws as priest celibacy and the church's absolute control over clergy appointments. "It is true that there is an atmosphere of suspicion of lay groups, and the roundtable has run into that," says Steinfels.

Link (here) to the full article that talks about the Church and fiscal management.

Game On!

Sarah Palin
bio (here)

Watch the debate (here)

Palin says she represents 'Joe Six-pack'

Palin Proved to Be Formidable Foe in Alaska Debates

America Magazine more biased than Gwen Ifill?
You be the judge. (here)

"Republicans need Jesuits and Jesuits need Republicans"

Former Jesuit Married Spanish Royalty

A dazzling beauty in her youth, possessor of 44 noble titles and 150 hereditary ones, today's duchess is renowned for her forthright character, forged during a high-rolling spell in England in the Second World War where her father, the 17th Duke, was Spanish ambassador in London.

In 1947 She married Luis Martínez de Irujo y Artacoz, son of the Dukes of Sotomayor, in "the most expensive wedding in the world". The couple lived mostly in the ancestral Las Dueñas palace in Seville, and had six children. She is said to have enjoyed a lively love life. The father of her fourth son, Fernando, is widely reported not to have been her husband but the Sevillian flamenco dancer Antonio el Bailarin.

After her husband's death in 1972, the duchess controversially married the free-thinking former Jesuit priest Jesus Aguirre y Ortiz de Zarate, in 1978. On his death in 2001, the title and property reverted to Cayetana. Dedicated Alba-watchers say her six children are split over their mother's marriage plans.

Link (here) to the full story.

More on the former Jesuit (here) , (here) and (here)

Photo is Jesus Aguirre in the center and Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart the 18th Duchess of Alba on the right.

The High Cost Of A Clean Conscious

The University’s ongoing commitment to renewable energy, and establishes the University as the largest purchaser in Santa Clara’s nationally acclaimed green power program. “This purchase is just one of many actions the University is taking to develop a culture of sustainability for our students, faculty, and staff,” says Lindsey Cromwell, Sustainability Coordinator for Santa Clara University. “The Santa Clara Green Power program provides an opportunity to support renewable energy, a major initiative as we strive to reduce the University’s environmental impact.”...Santa Clara Green Power is a voluntary renewable energy program offered by Silicon Valley Power to all of its residential, commercial and industrial customers as a way to support energy generated from 100 percent clean wind and solar power resources at a low additional cost of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Link to the full press release (here)

Jesuit Say's "I Have Always Wanted To See Afganistan"

IRAQ: Navy chaplain stays on the move in far-flung Anbar

Father Paul J. Shaughnessy (great link) has a unique congregation: spread out over 32,000 square miles in Iraq's Anbar province, about the size of South Carolina.

Shaughnessy serves troops of all religions in numerous outposts in the far-flung province as the Catholic chaplain for the Marines' Regimental Combat Team 5. At the mega-base at Al Asad, a Mass may attract a hundred or more Marines, sailors, soldiers and others; at a tiny outpost on the Syrian border, he recently performed Mass for a single Marine.

Now in his fourth deployment to Iraq, Shaughnessy, a Jesuit, keeps on the move: by Osprey (when available), by regular helicopter (when necessary) and sometimes by slow-moving overland convoys (done at night as part of a U.S. policy to give back the roads to Iraqis.)

The goal, Shaughnessy said in a telephone interview, is presence. The more times the troops see him, the more comfortable they are, more liable to open up with the issues that bother them, the less reluctant to discuss faith.

"When you're with them all the time, you're not as threatening," he said. "They're not worried you're going to hit them with religion."

As the pace of the U.S. mission in Iraq slows down, Shaughnessy said, the Marines have become "more contemplative, more interested in their relationship with God." He's taught a class about the references to modern Iraq in the Bible.

"Outside of Israel, Iraq is cited more times than any other region in the Bible," said Shaughnessy, 58, a native of Worcester, Mass., who worked for the FBI before entering the seminary.

And it's not just religion that piques the interest of the young Marines and sailors. A common question is about the definition of priestly celibacy. "When I tell them, the reaction usually is, 'Are you kidding me?' " he said.

Like the rest of the regiment, Shaughnessy will return this winter to Camp Pendleton. And after that?

"I've always wanted to see Afghanistan," he said.

— Tony Perry

Photo: Father Paul Shaughnessy, Catholic priest and Navy officer, says a prayer for a solider on the eve of battle in Najaf, 2004. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

Link (here)

Articles by Fr. Paul Shaughnessy, S.J.

The Gay Priest Problem What Needs to Be Done, and Why It Won't Be

Are the Jesuits Catholic? A review of "Passionate Uncertainty."

Blog posts about Fr. Paul

Incoming

Accountable for Your Actions

CWN author under fire-- literally!

Acaxee Indians Of Mexico And The Jesuit Missions

Acaxee Revolt - Northwestern Durango and East Central Sinaloa (1601). The Acaxee Indians lived in dispersed rancherías in the gorges and canyons of the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Durango and eastern Sinaloa. Once the Jesuit missionaries started to work among the Acaxees , they forced them to cut their very long hair and to wear clothing. The Jesuits also initiated a program of forced resettlement so that they could concentrate theAcaxees in one area.

In December 1601, the Acaxees, under the direction of an elder named Perico, began an uprising against Spanish rule. The author Susan Deeds, writing in "Indigenous Rebellions on the Northern Mexican Mission Frontier from First-Generation to Later Colonial Responses," states that the Acaxee Revolt "was characterized by messianic leadership and promises of millennial redemption during a period of violent disruption and catastrophic demographic decline due to disease." Claiming to have come from heaven to save his people from the false doctrines of the Jesuits, Perico planned to exterminate all the Spaniards. Although he promised to save his people from the Catholic missionaries and their way of life, his messianic activity included saying Mass, and performing baptisms and marriages.

Ms. Deeds observes that the Acaxee and other so-called first generation revolts represented "attempts to restore pre-Columbian social and religious elements that had been destroyed by the Spanish conquest."

In the following weeks, the Acaxees attacked the Spaniards in the mining camps and along mountain roads, killing fifty people.

After the failure of negotiations, Francisco de Urdiñola led a militia of Spaniards and Tepehuán and Concho allies into the Sierra Madre. Susan Deeds writes that "the campaign was particularly brutal, marked by summary trials and executions of hundreds of captured rebels." Perico and 48 other rebel leaders were executed, while other rebels were sold into slavery.

Link to the full article (here)

Photo is of Durango, Mexico

Yaqui And The Jesuits

Jesuits and the Yaqui in Mexico

An excerpt.

By the mid-1600s, Jesuit missionaries were well established among the Yaqui Indians of Sonora. The Yaqui had repelled the slave raiding of the Spanish in 1533. But, in 1565, Yaqui had welcomed Spanish explorers who came in peace, the Yaqui showing them hospitality in hope of winning Spaniards as allies in the war they were planning against neighbors to the south - the Mayo Indians. The Spaniards had withdrawn, and other Spaniards had come decades later, also in peace. In 1587, the Spanish crown had given permission to Jesuit missionaries to work Mexico's northwestern frontier, and the Jesuits had arrived in Sonora in 1591, protected by soldiers. The Jesuits impressed the Yaqui with their good intentions and their spirituality. The Jesuits brought a message of everlasting life and won Yaqui confidence with their concern for the well being of the Yaqui. According to Jesuit missionaries, by 1606 they had converted 40,000 out of a population estimated to be 100,000. The Jesuits improved Yaqui political organization and integration, some Yaqui having been scattered and isolated on their individual agricultural plots. The Jesuits managed to make themselves into a ruling priesthood among the Yaqui, and as such they came into conflict with Spain's secular authorities in Mexico, the Jesuits wanting to protect the Yaqui from exploitation by mine owners.

Spanish authorities in Mexico became hostile towards the Jesuits, and in 1637 they lobbied the Spanish crown to secularize missions among the Indians, to "free" the Indians from mission controls. The Jesuits argued that exploitation would bring more Indian uprisings and that their authority over the Indians would keep the Indians peaceful.

Link to the full article (here)