Overheard in the Sacristy

U.S. archbishop at Vatican says Democrats becoming ‘party of death’

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — The Democratic Party in the United States “risks transforming itself definitively into a ‘party of death,’” said U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s highest court.

An interview with the former archbishop of St. Louis was published in the Sept. 27 edition of Avvenire, a daily Catholic newspaper sponsored by the Italian bishops’ conference.

The newspaper asked the archbishop, the new head of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, for his reaction to reports that his Vatican job was designed to get him away from St. Louis.

“I have too much respect for the pope to believe that in order to move someone away from a diocese he would nominate him to a very sensitive dicastery like this one,” said the archbishop, whose office is in charge of ensuring that lower church courts correctly administer justice in accordance with canon law.

Archbishop Burke was asked if he knew that the August Democratic National Convention in Denver featured a guest appearance by Sheryl Crow, a musician whose performance at a 2007 benefit for a Catholic children’s hospital the archbishop had opposed because of her support for abortion and embryonic stem-cell research.

“That does not surprise me much,” the archbishop said. “At this point the Democratic Party risks transforming itself definitely into a ‘party of death’ because of its choices on bioethical questions as Ramesh Ponnuru wrote in his book, ‘The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts and the Disregard for Human Life.’” [...]

Wall Street Close: Stocks Tumble as Bailout Bill Fails House

Citigroup To Buy Wachovia Banking Operations

Oil Plunges $10 As US Bailout Plan Voted Down

Today’s homily–in both English and Spanish–was taken in part from Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility From the Catholic Bishops of the United States. I used the first verse of the Psalm, “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior,” as the starting point. I ended by saying, “The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved this message.” Some people chuckled.

Catholic University Clarifies Speaker Policy

September 26, 2008 by Margaret Boehm

Political candidates can speak on campus with University approval from Rev. David M. O’Connell, according to the University’s newly expanded political activity guidelines for student organizations.
“No candidates running for election are to be invited for anything without express permission of the President,” the policy states. “No politicians who have public positions that run counter to the teachings of the Catholic Church are to be invited for anything without express permission from the President.” [...]

US News Accuses Bishop of Denying 1st Amendment in Biden Abortion Communion Flap

by Steven Ertelt | LifeNews.com Editor

Dover, DE (LifeNews.com) — In another example of media bias, a writer for US News and World Report is accusing a Catholic bishop of violating the First Amendment by denying communion to pro-abortion vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden. The Delaware senator has come under fire for violating the pro-life teachings of the Church.

US News writer John Mashek takes issue with the bishop of Scranton, Pennsylvania, who has forbidden Biden from receiving communion there, which happens to be the senator’s birthplace.

According to a column he wrote Tuesday, Mashek contends the bishop is violating Biden’s First Amendment rights.

“[Biden] and many other Catholics—including this writer—do not necessarily favor abortion, but we do not feel our religious views should be foisted on others in a nation where church and state are divided,” he writes. “That division of church and state has application here.”

Mark Finkelstein, a columnist for the Newsbusters blog of the Media Research Center, says Mashek is off base with his contentions.

“Let’s make this as simple as possible for Mr. Mashek: the First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a state religion. It does not prohibit people, including bishops, from practicing theirs,” he says.

“To the contrary, it forbids the government from passing laws that would prohibit that bishop from the free exercise of his religion,” he explains.

“The bishop has every right under the Constitution to deny communion to anyone he pleases. For that matter, like any other citizen, he has every right to encourage others to vote in a certain manner,” Finkelstein adds.

“As a matter of the freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion, a bishop is free to express his political opinion to his parishioners,” he says.

Los Angeles, Sep 24, 2008 / 04:34 pm (CNA).- The movie star Eduardo Verástegui has recorded a special video message to encourage Hispanic voters in the U.S. to put an end to abortion and to expose the radical abortion position of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Verástegui, who is perhaps best known in the U.S. for his pro-life film “Bella,” presents his challenge to Latino voters by calling attention to the fact that most abortion clinics are located in Hispanic neighborhoods and that the Spanish media is saturated with pro-abortion advertising.

“Abortion is not only a lucrative industry; it is also used by people who are racist as a means to eliminate our people, since they consider us to be a threat to democracy in this country,” Verástegui asserts.

After noting that more than 3,000 babies are aborted each day in the U.S. and that 650 of those babies are Hispanic, the actor states that abortion is legal “because there are not enough men and women who raise their voice against abortion.”

“We need to put an end to abortion and political candidates play a very important role in this matter,” he continued, pointing out that Obama supports abortions performed during the last trimester of pregnancy,  inhuman partial birth abortion,” and that Obama “wants to finance abortions with the tax dollars you and I pay.” [...]

New appointments mark bold papal move for Liturgical reform

Vatican City, Sep 25, 2008 / 11:10 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI made a low profile but significant move in the direction of liturgical reform by completely renewing the roster of his liturgical advisors yesterday.

A hardly noticed brief note from the Vatican’s Press office announced the appointment of new consultants for the office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. It did not mention, however, the importance of the new appointees.

The new consultants include Monsignor Nicola Bux, professor at the Theological Faculty of Puglia (Southern Italy,) and author of several books on liturgy, especially on the Eucharist. Bux recently finish a new book “Pope Benedict’s Reform,” printed by the Italian publishing house Piemme, scheduled to hit the shelves in December.

The list of news consultants includes Fr. Mauro Gagliardi, an expert in Dogmatic theology and professor at the Legionaries of Christ’s  Pontifical Athenaeum  “Regina Apostolorum”; Opus Dei Spanish priest  Juan José Silvestre Valor, professor at the Pontifical University  of  Santa Croce in Rome; Fr.  Uwe Michael Lang, C.O., an official of the Congregation  for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and author of the book “Turning Towards the Lord” -about the importance of facing “ad orientem” during Mass; and Fr. Paul C.F. Gunter,  a Benedictine professor at the Pontifical Athenaeum  Sant Anselmo in Rome and  member of the editorial board of the forthcoming “Usus Antiquior,” a quarterly journal dedicated to the Liturgy under the auspices of the Society of St. Catherine of Siena. The Society, which has an association with the English Province of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), promotes the intellectual and liturgical renewal of the Church.

Also relevant to the appointments is the fact that all former consultants, appointed when Archbishop Piero Marini led the office of Liturgical Celebrations, have been dismissed by not renewing their appointments.

The parish Advisory Councils met last evening for the first time this fiscal year. The Finance Council noted a “fiscally tight” summer with a well-founded sense that returning winter visitors are contributing to the recent upturn in plate collections. The budget is conservative and true to the overall financial picture of the parish.

The Pastoral Council is ready to take the reigns of the spiritual life of the parish. Parish missions and special catechesis for the Year of St. Paul are in the works. The Council voiced its desired to continue with the recitation of the Holy Rosary before each weekend Mass, the Corpus Christi Procession and Benediction, and the Lenten Stations of the Cross and Soup Supper. The Council also desires that the Spanish-speaking and English speaking communities not see themselves as separate, but rather a united parish family.

The most exciting news was from our Director of Catechesis; he exuberantly announced that there were 25 people in the RCIA program. (They had to move their sessions from a classroom to the parish hall.) This is indeed good news for the majority of the people are young. I have noticed an influx of young people (mid-twenties to mid-thirties) attending Mass. Additionally, I would say the average age at this morning’s TLM was late-thirties.

Be faithful to the Will of the Lord; others will follow.

Cardinal Rigali warns that FOCA makes abortion on demand a ‘national entitlement’

Washington DC, Sep 23, 2008 / 05:08 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Justin Rigali, the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has written a letter to the U.S. Congress to alert them that the Freedom of Choice Act would undermine bipartisan efforts to reduce abortions and make abortion on demand a “national entitlement.”

Writing to all members of Congress on September 19, Cardinal Rigali warned that the enactment of the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would “deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry.”

“Despite its deceptive title,” he wrote, “FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. And FOCA would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government to reduce abortions in our country.” [...]

World financial crisis is a consequence of idolatry of money, Peruvian cardinal says

Lima, Sep 23, 2008 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Lima, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, said this week the financial crisis in the United States and the rest of the world is a consequence of the idolatry of money and power.

This idolatry has manifested itself in the network of corrupt officials who were greedy for more and therefore did not properly carry out their roles, Cardinal Cipriani said.

“They adore money and therefore, they engage in deceit. They issued a series of mortgages that had no value, and that, multiplied by millions has led to this flood of fraudulent corruption,” the cardinal said on his weekly radio program.

The cardinal warned that idolizing power and money has reached “very troubling levels in the world.”  When money and power are “the only objects of our lives, they end in problems,” he said.

“When there is so much desire for money, it is for power, and when there is a desire for power it is for money.  All of this just to impose our subjectivism, arrogance and pride,” the cardinal stated. [...]

A local Berlin radio station has announced it will air its morning show entirely in Latin on the 26th of September, to celebrate the European day of languages. Approximately 4.2 million people tune into Kiss FM every morning.