Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Handbook for the Diaconate

CWR: The "La Croix" Interview: On Clericalism and the Tango By James V. Schall, S.J.
The Holy Father’s interviews are almost always provocative. But we do not always find a lot of answers, at least answers we think we can use.

“The opposite danger for the Church is clericalism. This is the sin committed by two parties, like the tango!”
— Pope Francis, La Croix, Paris, May 17, 2016.
Chiesa: Müller Out, Schönborn In. The Pope Has Changed Doctrine Teachers

For Francis, the right interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia” is not that of the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, but that of the Austrian cardinal. Here, for the first time, is his complete text

Related:
"Amoris laetitia", conscience, and discernment by Fr. George Woodall
Two months after the release of Pope Francis much discussed post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, here are four observations about the document by a moral theologian who teaches in Rome.

Eastern Christian Books: The City with Five Names

Eastern Christian Books: The City with Five Names

Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Fall of Constantinople

Christian Order: March Editorial THE DEVIL’S DELIRIUM

Like the poor, the feminists are always with us: forever pushing gender as a social construct. Although they failed to bully the Church into presenting Christ the High Priest as a woman, their persistent hectoring paved the way for a feminist pontiff who undermines the male priesthood by washing female feet on Holy Thursday. Buoyed by such incremental rewards, they pursue their Daliesque mission to reinvent reality with Marxist fervour.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

CWR: "Amoris Laetitia" and Vatican II’s Project of Inculturation
Vatican II sought to initiate a dialogue with the modern world, meant to be an extension of the Church’s evangelizing mission. But things have not gone as hoped and planned.
By Dr. R. Jared Staudt

"Pope St. John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council amid great optimism. Pope John called for aggiornamento and an opening of the windows of the Church, but we know that the 1960s were not a time of fresh air. In fact, I would argue it was the breaking forth into daily life of a long trajectory of radical individualism. The Council sought a renewed encounter with the modern ..."



Luther and Protestantism get blamed for the rise of individualism (subjectivism); is Protestantism the roots of the modern turn? Did Luther and the Protestant "Reformers" destroy the authority of the Church? Whence voluntarism and false notions of freedom?
The Promise and Prospects of Retrieval: Recent Developments in Roman Catholic Thought that Shape Contemporary Dogmatic Theology by Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.
First Things: The True History of Women Deacons by Charlotte Allen (via Fr. Z)

Ten Days on Mount Athos

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Dr Anna Silvas on Amoris Laetitia

via a comment at Fr. Hunwicke:

Dr Silvas currently resides in Armidale, NSW, and is a member of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, in union with Rome. She is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Humanities at the University of New England, Australia, and also a Professorial Adjunct Professorial Fellow at the Australian Catholic University, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. Her undergraduate studies were in Greek and Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic/Syriac. Her research has concentrated on late antiquity, particularly on the Cappadocian Fathers, the development of Christian monasticism, the spirituality of ascetic women in early and medieval Christianity. Her published works include translation of ancient literature as well as monographs. Her magnum opus was a first critical edition of the Syriac Questions of the Brothers. She has also been associated with the JP Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, where she is a sessional lecturer in the Catholic Tradition of sexuality, marriage and family.

pdf

The Jesus Prayer



Related:


Monday, May 23, 2016

Eastern Christian Books: Seven Ecumenical Councils

Eastern Christian Books: Seven Ecumenical Councils
Rorate Caeli: One is Simon, the other is Peter? - Gänswein: Papacy was changed in 2013 into an "expanded" Petrine Office with two members. - Does this confirm the Socci-Messori thesis of a papal diarchy? -- column by Edward Pentin

By What Power of the Bishop of Rome?

Rorate Caeli: False Collegiality: Full Text of new Rule demanding Bishops consult with Vatican before erecting Diocesan Institutes, and Our Comment

What does not pertain to the Church Universal? Why should a diocesan bishop have the final say over whether a woman can become a consecrated virgin? Isn't her vocation a gift to the Church Universal? Maybe some dicastry in the Roman Curia should have a voice in approving her.

Because marriage is a gift to the Church Universal...

Etc.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Do Christians have a political identity?

That is, does membership in a political community have any moral relevance?

There should be an ordering of our actions based on the good of the political community -- modern Catholic "social justice" proponents may even agree that there is an order of charity. But there will be disagreements in our judgment of particulars: what is to be considered a community, whether this group of people is a community, whether this community has the same group identity as another, and so on.

What is to be done in the absence of any real membership?
Chiesa: The Four Hooks On Which Bergoglio Hangs His Thought

They have been his guiding criteria ever since he was young. And now they inspire his way of governing the Church. Here they are for the first time, analyzed by a philosopher and frontier missionary

Aidan Hart on the Training of Iconographers

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Mormonism

More Naturalistic

but for me, still an icon and not just religious art.

Putting on Christ

To Live Truly

CWR: Fr. Alexis Toth, Bishop John Ireland, and the Grace of Reconciliation by Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
The history of the "two lungs" of the Catholic Church in the United States has been marked, at times, by acrimony, misunderstanding, and controversy.

Puissance de Dieu chez Saint Thomas d'Aquin par Pasquale Porro Journées thomistes

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

CWR Blog: St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body by Daniel Blackman
A new book by Dominican priest and theologian Fr. Thomas Petri focuses on the Thomistic background and roots of the late Polish pontiff's challenging catechesis on sexuality, marriage, and personhood.

CWR: Lord, Not Legend: A Review of Brant Pitre’s The Case for Jesus by Dr. Leroy Huizenga

The new book by a notable young Scripture scholar addresses both the dominant paradigm in academic biblical studies and the more popular errors about Jesus and the New Testament.

Divine Mercy Icon



Done by Pachomius Meade, O.S.B., featured on the cover of the April 2016 issue of Give Us This Day. (Reproductions available through Printery House.) I should take that issue and compare it with the April 2016 issue of Magnificat.

Tommaso e la sua eredità - con l'autore Pasquale Porro, O. Grassi, L. Bianchi e C. Esposito

Monday, May 16, 2016

In the "Old Days"



Fr. Hunwicke: The Octave of Pentecost
Chiesa: Francis: “I Can Say: Yes. Period”

This is how the pope responded to the question of whether something has changed with respect to the previous discipline on communion for the divorced and remarried. A Dominican theologian explains what this innovation is. But how will it be put into practice?

Photos from SVOTS

Orthodox Music Symposium 2016

Message from His All-Holiness on the Holy and Great Council



website

Attributed to Andrei Rublev

Justification and Righteousness

Pravoslavie: Those Whom He Justified He Glorified: Paul’s Argument in Romans 1:17-3:31 by Seraphim Hamilton (original)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Scholasticum: Annuario Academico 2016-17

academia.edu
Chiesa: Yes, No, I Don’t Know, You Figure It Out. The Fluid Magisterium of Pope Francis

He never says all that he has in mind, he just leaves it to guesswork. He allows everything to be brought up again for discussion. Thus everything becomes a matter of opinion, in a Church where everyone does what he wants

Reminds me of a piece by Carl Olson, the link to which I posted here.

See also: Pope's Forte: Spilling the Beans

Pentecost





alt



Saturday, May 14, 2016

Wonder

and disordered self-love? Does the movie exalt the protagonist's desire to complete the mission or excoriate him?

The Other Recent Latin Volume of Essays on Theosis

Edited by Andrew Hofer, O.P. - Divinization: Becoming Icons of Christ Through the Liturgy -- is available for preview on Google.

Jared Ortiz wrote this review of the book for CWR.

Eastern Christian Books: An Interview with Carl Olson on Theosis/Deificiation/Divinization

Eastern Christian Books: An Interview with Carl Olson on Theosis/Deificiation/Divinization

Markos Kampanis Interview

Social Justice is Legal Justice

What Exactly Is Social Justice? by Carrie Gress
Pope Pius XI Defined the New Virtue, Focusing on the Common Good, in 1931

Social Justice Isn't What You Think It Is by Michael Novak and Paul Adams, Encounter Books

Parts of it may actually be good even though Novak is a liberal, i.e. a supporter of capitalism.

Posting This for the Images from the Temple



I'm guessing the iconography is relatively recent.

Sant'Anselmo

A Chinese Catechism

Vatican Radio

Friday, May 13, 2016

Papal Trip to Armenia



Why Pope Francis' Visit Matters to Armenians

Interview with David Meconi, SJ

Zenit: INTERVIEW: Humans Become God? Yes, It’s Catholic Theology

A dozen Catholic scholars and theologians examine what the process of “deification” means in their respective areas of study
Kathleen Naab

Centesimus Annus Conference



Mozarabic-Rite Mass in Rome

NLM: Pictures from Last Friday’s Mozarabic Mass in Rome and Chants from the Recent Mozarabic Mass in Rome
Chiesa: Reading Exercises. The “Amoris Laetitia” of Cardinal Müller

In a monumental discourse in Spain, the prefect of the doctrine of the faith leads the post-synodal exhortation back to the course of the Church’s previous discipline. Too late. Because Francis has already written it so as to imply the opposite

St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral, Dallas, TX



website

Deaconesses and Women Deacons

Fr. Z: Francis and the Deaconesses… aka Deaconettes and Some feminine observations about deaconesses (aka deaconettes)
Rorate Caeli: For the Record: Pope on "Deaconess Commission", and clarification

ITC: From the Diakonia of Christ to the Diakonia of the Apostles*



Edit.
Pope Francis and the Matter of Female Deacons [Updated] by Carl Olson
Why must we continually revisit matters that have been addressed in detail and are, in many ways, already set to rest in terms of magisterial teaching?

The Nephilim

Who are the nephilim? by Fr. Jonathan Tobias

Thursday, May 12, 2016

A Cause of Division Between Croats and Serbs?

Crux: Croatians eager to see Cardinal Stepinac declared a saint

St. Iakovos Retreat Center



website

Christ is Risen!



The Lordship of God



At first I thought he might be referring to the kingdom of God. But the Latin tweet has "potentia," power of God.



Which language is the normative one for papal Twitter utterances? The Spanish seems closer to the English:



Maybe they need a better Latinist doing the tweets in Latin.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

An Offshoot of Sufism?

No doubt considered a heresy by mainstream Islamic (Sunni) authorities.



The Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society



website
announcement





Crux Now: New book says Vatican II key to understanding Pope Francis by John Allen

His pontificate isn't even over yet and still people are trying to analyze his actions. The author is on the staff of La Stampa, so another Bergoglio partisan?

Giacomo Galeazzi, Il Concilio di Papa Francesco: La Nuova Primavera della Chiesa

Il Concilio di papa Francesco: Nell’analisi di Giacomo Galeazzi il Pontefice realizza la «primavera della Chiesa»

The Theology of Joseph Ratzinger

Crux Now: Love Pope Benedict's Theology? Try a Master's Degree (via Fr. Z)

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

George Kordis Exhibition in Taipei



Heavenly Beauty on Earth: Contemporary Egg Tempera Orthodox ICONS - Museum of World Religions current exhibitions

George Kordis gallery

The Union of Uzhorod

He discovered a 370-year document: It’s the “baptismal certificate” of Greek Catholics (via Byz, TX) - original article
CWR: The History, Enemies, and Importance of Natural Law
Philosophy, says Dr. John Lawrence Hill, "played a fundamental role in my conversion to Christianity. I think most non-Christians—at least if they are thoughtful about these matters—really haven’t confronted themselves with the contradictions of their own worldview."

St. John of San Francisco: A Living Legacy

Fr. Alexander Rentel and Archdeacon John Chryssavgis on the Pan-Orthodox Council



Related:


The Necessity of Baptism for non-Orthodox Christians Converting to the Orthodox Church

An Orthodox makes the case...

Pravoslavie: The Recognition of the Baptism of the Heterodox as the Basis for a New Ecclesiology (In Step with Vatican II)
A paper delivered at the Theological-Academic Conference "The Great and Holy Council: Great Preparation without Expectations," March 23, 2016 in Piraeus, Greece

(via Byz, TX)

Francis Writes to Tawadros II

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

What would Amerio say about Pope Francis?

Sandro Magister: Francis, Pope. More Infallible Than He There Is None
He displays a willingness to reconsider the dogma of infallibility. But in reality he is vesting full power in himself much more than his immediate predecessors did. And he is acting as an absolute monarch

BCC News

Vatican statement

From the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parm:

Pope Accepts Retirement of Bishop John M. Kudrick and Bishop Gerald N. Dino

May 7, 2016


PARMA, Ohio — Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Bishop John M. Kudrick of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma and has named Archbishop William C. Skurla of Pittsburgh as apostolic administrator.

​Further, Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Bishop Gerald N. Dino of the Byzantine Catholic Holy Protection of Mary Eparchy of Phoenix and appointed Bishop John S. Pazak C.S.s.R., of the Eparchy of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, based in Toronto, Canada as Bishop of the Eparchy of Phoenix, while remaining apostolic administrator of the Toronto eparchy.

The clergy and faithful of the Eparchy of Parma are saddened by the unexpected news of Bishop Kudrick’s retirement. He was appreciated as a prayerful leader, who loved the Church and the Eastern Catholic Tradition. Among his accomplishments, he showed great pastoral vision in trying to restore Eastern monasticism by establishing a women’s monastery in the eparchy. He also created a new pastoral plan, aimed at invigorating parishes and encouraging efforts for evangelization.

Bishop Kudrick was ordained the fourth bishop of Parma in 2002. Born in Lloydell, Pa., in 1947, he was ordained a priest in 1975 for the Third Order Regular of St. Francis (Franciscan Friars, T.O.R.) in Loretto, PA. He was incardinated in the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Pittsburgh in 1987, serving in Pennsylvania until his episcopal appointment to Parma. He was 68 at the time of his resignation.

Archbishop Skurla is the Metropolitan of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States since 2012. Born in 1956, he was ordained a priest for the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in 1987, and was incardinated in the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys (western U.S.A.) in 1993. He was ordained bishop of the same eparchy in 2002, and appointed bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic five years later. He was named the fifth archbishop of Pittsburgh in 2012.

The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Parma includes 12 states in the American Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. It was established in 1969. Today, it provides ministry and pastoral care to some 8,000 faithful in about 30 parishes and missions.

More information to follow.

Media contact:
Father Andrew Summerson
​216-212-0295
frasummerson@parma.org

Message from ​Bishop Emeritus John M. Kudrick
Message from Metropolitan William C. Skurla


Bishop John Stephen Pažak, C.SS.R.


USCCB
CCCB
The Catholic Sun
NCReg
CNA

Monday, May 09, 2016

The fundamental patriarchical structure of the family is sanctioned by Sacred Tradition; but what of the division of sex roles in broader human society? If the delineation of sex roles is not to be found in Sacred Scripture (though it is found with respect to the ordained ministry in the New Testament and also with respect to Jewish society in the Old Testament), is there anything in tradition that condemns it or the principles for the division of sex roles? If not, then on what basis can bishops do so now, other than based on their interpretation of natural law (i.e. "justice" or "equality")?

ON NATURE & THE ECONOMY OF GRACE by Raymond T. Gawronski

Some pedestalizing:
"First, we must ask why God came as a male, not as a female. Although in the last few years I confess I have had reason to entertain doubts, and at the risk of seeming patronizing, I have always suspected it is because men are more in need of salvation than women."

And then...
"In the traditional Catholic understanding, "grace builds on nature without destroying it." So it is no surprise to discover that built into the very nature of things, as revealed in Genesis, is a way of salvation for the male and for the female. Genesis seems to see Adam as basically lazy—he would rather listen to Eve, and enjoy forbidden fruits with her, say, than deny her in the Garden—and so his healing punishment is to till the earth with difficulty, to gather the fruits of the earth from the sweat of his brow."

But the laziness is an archetypical weakness, a characteristic vice, given that men are created to lead, at least within the family and arguably within the political community, and to act in the world. In his sin, Adam fails to assert the authority he is called to exercise. It is not just a way of salvation than a healing of our sin and enabling us to do properly what we have been called to do.

Saturday, May 07, 2016

CWR Blog: Why is this non-Catholic scholar debunking "centuries of anti-Catholic history"?
An interview with Dr. Rodney Stark, sociologist and author of "Bearing False Witness"
May 07, 2016 03:21 EST
Carl E. Olson
Rorate Caeli: De Mattei - The current crisis in the context of Church history

Roberto de Mattei
Speech, Roman Life Forum 2016
May 6, 2016

Thursday, May 05, 2016

Chiesa: Instructions For Not Losing the Way in the Labyrinth of “Amoris Lætitia”

Intentionally written in a vague form, the post-synodal exhortation allows two opposite ways out. A Dominican theologian indicates the right one here. As in a little catechism, for the use of priests and faithful

The Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral in Tirana, Albania?



youtube
Michael Harrison
2014 announcement of consecration

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Chiesa: Jews. The Discord of the Four Brothers

They celebrated Passover together, but then they went their separate ways again. The four subgroups of the Jews of Israel analyzed for the first time in depth by the Pew Research Center in Washington

Christus Victor

Archbishop Demetrios

The Prayer Rule of the Theotokos

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Thomas Choe Yang-Eop

The Conclusion of Fr. Andrew's Series on Pentecostalism

St. Mary Magdalene

A Taxonomy of Latin Catholics

Christian Order: On Doctrinal and Moral Disorders Abiding in the Church
Father John A. Hardon's 1990 Commentaries on the “Revised Draft” of the Catholic Catechism

Part 2

Was Fr. Hardon a Latin traditionalist? Perhaps not liturgically, as the author of the above recognizes. (I am not sure if Fr. Hardon had a published opinion on the EF.) But theologically, he was conservative and probably upheld some form of neo-scholasticism in addition to Thomism. As one can see, he criticizes certain points of the CCC based on the Council of Trent (accepted by Fr. Hardon as an ecumenical council) -- the same sort of mindset exhibited by Latin traditionalists which would criticize the judgment that the Liturgy of Addai and Mari, lacking an Institution Narrative, is invalid.

What should we call the position held by Fr. Hardon, Latin traditionalists, and probably many "conservative" Latin Catholics as well? Tridentine Latin Christianity?

Monday, May 02, 2016

Fr. Raymond Gawronski, SJ



I had not seen any photos of him celebrating Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine rite until now.

The Mysterious Mystery

Something written for the local Latin diocese on mystagogy. I saw a longer version two weekends ago in Palo Alto. In both versions the notion of "mystery" is related more to the Vatican I usage than to its use by St. Paul, especially the referent or denotation. I've seen plenty of RCIA/catechetical material using the word Mystery but not giving an explanation of what is meant by it, and this is rather disappointing though not surprising -- the expected renewal of theology at the popular level did not happen after Vatican II, despite all of the groundwork that was laid for it before the council. While God's love is a part of the Christian Mystery or the Mystery of Christ (or the Mystery of the Cross) -- not "Paschal" Mystery -- one is missing out on the kerygmatic proclamation that should be entailed by the use of the word if one focuses solely on His love or mercy.

Bouyer on the neologism "Paschal mystery"
The Christian Mystery