Rome, Italy, Apr 18, 2019 / 11:19 am (CNA).- Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at a prison in the suburbs of Rome Thursday, urging the inmates to reflect on how they can treat each other with servants’ hearts.
“It… […]
There is supposedly a problem with the dating of the Last Supper. If you hadn’t heard, don’t worry. But since someone might mention it someday in that way people do when they think they’ve got […]
Newark, N.J., Apr 18, 2019 / 10:54 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Newark said Wednesday that the language used by the Catechism of the Catholic Church to describe homosexual acts is “very unfortunate,” adding that he hopes the Catechism will use different language in its discussion of homosexuality.
“The Church, I think, is having its own conversation about what our faith has us do and say with people in relationships that are same-sex. What should be without debate is that we are called to welcome them,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin said April 17, during an interview with NBC’s Anne Thompson on the “Today Show.”
“But how can you welcome people that you call ‘intrinsically disordered?’” Thompson asked.
“Well I don’t call them ‘intrinsically disordered,’” Tobin answered.
“But isn’t that the Catechism of the Catholic Church?” Thompson asked.
“That is,” Tobin said, adding “it’s very unfortunate language. Let’s hope that eventually that language is a little less hurtful.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” a phrase it also uses to describe other sexual acts taught by the Church to be immoral.
The Catechism does not describe homosexual persons themselves as “intrinsically disordered,” though it does say that homosexual inclination, along with other inclination toward sexual sin, is “objectively disordered.”
In a prior paragraph, the Catechism says that “sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes.”
The Catechism adds that “men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies…must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”
Tobin endorsed a 2017 book, “Building a Bridge,” by Fr. James Martin, SJ, which has also called for the Church to amend the language with which it discusses homosexuality.
Tobin said of the book that “in too many parts of our church LGBT people have been made to feel unwelcome, excluded, and even shamed. Father Martin’s brave, prophetic, and inspiring new book marks an essential step in inviting church leaders to minister with more compassion, and in reminding LGBT Catholics that they are as much a part of our church as any other Catholic.”
Tobin was also asked during the April 17 interview about the approach of the U.S. bishops to immigration, a point on which he explained that “humanity has to be recognized. It doesn’t mean that we don’t control our borders. Sure. Every nation does. But we do it in a comprehensive manner that respects also the human dignity of people who are fleeing scenes of great violence.”
Speaking of his own archdiocesan investigation into the sexual abuse and coercion perpetrated by former Newark archbishop Theodore McCarrick, Tobin said that he would is still speaking with “the Attorney General and the authorities of the state of New Jersey. I would like to get it out as soon as possible.”
The marketing blurb on the book When Jesuits were Giants begins with the statement: No one in France or the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century doubted that the Jesuits, loved […]
Vatican City, Apr 18, 2019 / 02:57 am (CNA).- The holy oil blessed at the Chrism Mass is a reminder of the priest’s call to be close to the People of God, pouring himself out in service to them, Pope Francis said Thursday.
“I would say thi… […]
New York City, N.Y., Apr 17, 2019 / 08:55 pm (CNA).- A man is in custody after he attempted to bring containers of gasoline into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City Wednesday night.
The man was apprehended by cathedral security around 8 p.m… […]
Washington D.C., Apr 17, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Republicans and Democrats in the Texas legislature voted to strengthen protections for babies born after surviving attempted abortions, but in North Carolina the governor could veto a similar bill.
In t… […]
Toronto, Canada, Apr 17, 2019 / 05:56 pm (CNA).- A Canadian priest’s controversial 2018 characterization of Pope Francis was plagiarized, according to a recent media report. The priest, Fr. Thomas Rosica, SDB, apologized in February after he was discovered to have committed acts of plagiarism serially.
Rosica, a long-serving English language press aide at the Vatican Press Office, and the CEO of Canada’s Salt+Light Television network, wrote in July 2018 that Pope Francis “breaks Catholic traditions whenever he wants because he is ‘free from disordered attachments.’ Our Church has indeed entered a new phase: with the advent of this first Jesuit pope, it is openly ruled by an individual rather than by the authority of Scripture alone or even its own dictates of tradition plus Scripture.”
The passage had been taken from a 2014 blog post written by Richard Bennett, a former member of Dominican Order and an apparently laicized priest, who is now active in a fundamentalist Protestant organization which says it “places particular emphasis on the evangelization and conversion of Roman Catholics.”
Bennet’s post was intended as criticism of a video about Pope Francis released by Fr. James Martin, SJ, according to the National Post.
In one section of Bennet’s blog, which aimed to both summarize and critique Martin’s synopsis of Ignatian spirituality, Bennet wrote that: “Without the Gospel and locked into subjective mysticism, both the priests and the lay people are then without biblical authority – except as mediated to them by their Roman Church. Francis having completed the Spiritual Exercises is now ‘detached,’ i.e., free from any ‘disordered attachments’ so that all his attachments or desires are supposedly ‘ordered toward God.’”
“Therefore, it is not surprising, as Jesuit priest Martin points out, Pope Francis breaks Catholic traditions whenever he wants – because he is ‘free from disordered attachments’ according to the subjectivity of his own mindset rather than worshiping and serving God according to the authority of Scripture,” Bennet added.
“Clearly, the Roman Catholic Church has entered a new phase: with the advent of its first Jesuit pope, it is obviously ruled by an individual rather than by the authority of Scripture alone or even its own dictates of tradition plus Scripture,” he concluded, suggesting that Francis’ Ignatian spirituality contradicts Catholic doctrine regarding the binding authority of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Each passage of Rosica’s controversial 2018 paragraph was nearly identical to a parallel passage in Bennet’s blog post, though no attribution was given. Rosica’ paragraph was part of an essay, “The Ignatian Qualities of the Petrine Ministry of Pope Francis,” published July 31, 2018 at Salt+Light Media’s website. The essay has since been removed from the site.
Rosica’s essay was met with immediate criticism by some theologians, who said that the priest incorrectly characterized the pope’s spirituality in a manner contrary to Catholic doctrine regarding the binding authority of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Those critics, Rosica tweeted in response, should read the full text “then go to confession.”
Rosica was first reported by Life Site News Feb. 15 to have plagiarized sections of text in lectures and op-eds from a variety of writers, among them priests, theologians, journalists, and at least two cardinals.
Subsequent reports found pervasive plagiarism in academic articles, essays, speeches, and op-eds by Rosica, dating back more than a decade. Rosica was reported in March to have misrepresented his academic credentials, claiming falsely in his official biography to have earned an advanced degree from École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem.
“I realize that I was not prudent nor vigilant with several of the texts that have surfaced and I will be very vigilant with future texts and compositions,” Rosica told The Catholic Register Feb. 18.
“I take full responsibility for my lack of oversight and do not place the blame on anyone else but myself.”
Rosica told the National Post Feb. 22 that “What I’ve done is wrong, and I am sorry about that. I don’t know how else to say it.”
Rosica also told the National Post his plagiarism was inadvertent and not malicious. He explained that “it could have been cut and paste,” apparently meaning that he had mistakenly included passages of text written by others in his texts without remembering to attribute them.
The priest added that he would “apologize that this came to light, and it’s wrong, and it’s not going to happen again.”
On March 14, the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation announced that Rosica would take a “sabbatical of several months for rest and renewal.”
Salt and Light’s Board of Directors said it had “accepted the apology and deep regret of Chief Executive Officer, Fr. Thomas Rosica, for instances of plagiarism where passages and texts were not properly attributed. Fr. Rosica understands the gravity of his actions, accepts full responsibility for them and has pledged to the Board that this will not occur again.”
Los Angeles, Calif., Apr 17, 2019 / 05:47 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $8 million to a female teenager who was sexually abused and abducted by a teacher at her high school in 2016.
The victim attended San Gabriel Mission High School, an all-girls school in San Gabriel, Calif., about 10 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The then-15-year-old student was abused over numerous months by Juan Ivan Barajas, her volleyball coach and health teacher.
“The Archdiocese recognizes that there was serious harm done to the life of the victim-survivor,” the archdiocese stated. “We hope that the settlement will allow her to heal and move forward with her education and lifetime goals. The Archdiocese apologizes for the impact that this caused in her life.”
The plaintiff’s main attorney, David Ring, said April 16 that the amount is the largest the archdiocese has paid a single victim.
According to the New York Times, Barajas, 39, had sent her sexually explicit messages and images through his phone. He had abused her in several locations on school grounds beginning in April 2016.
After Barajas’ wife found out about the abuse, he kidnapped the teenager in July, and took her to Las Vegas. The police found the pair living in his car in Henderson, Nev., and Barajas was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty.
About a year before the sexual misconduct took place, several reports were issued in 2015 about Barajas’ suspicious behavior around students. Parents and staff both expressed their objections to officials at the school and archdiocese.
According to the New York Times, Monsignor Sal Pilato, the archdiocese’s superintendent of high schools, had received concerns from two volleyball coaches and a parent. These individuals were worried about his interactions with the students, including time spent alone in his office.
An anonymous letter was also issued to the superintendent, stating that “he takes the ones he like to the office,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
“The warning signs here were crystal clear,” Ring told the Los Angeles Times. “The complaints about Barajas were unambiguous, and yet nothing was done.”
Adrian Marquez Alarcon, spokeswomen for the archdiocese, said the accusations had been investigated but that no evidence of sexual abuse was found. She said the former teacher had received a warning for time spent alone with a minor.
“He was counseled according to archdiocesan policies,” she said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Alarcon said the teen and her family plan to meet with Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, and apologized on behalf of the archdiocese.
In 2007, the archdiocese reached a $660 million abuse settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clerical abuse. And in 2013 it paid nearly $10 million to settle a case brought by four alleged sex abuse victims of Michael Baker, who was formerly a priest of the archdiocese.
In a Jan. 22, 2013 statement regarding abuse documents, the archdiocese said that “few institutions have done as much as the Los Angeles Archdiocese to promptly report abuse allegations to civil authorities, to screen all those who supervise children, and to train adults and children in the latest abuse prevention procedures … We are justifiably proud of our record of child protection in the 21st century, and we remain vigilant against all that would harm our children and young people.”
Washington D.C., Apr 17, 2019 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- One of the few pro-life Democrats in Congress will once again face a primary challenger in his next election.
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), narrowly defeated challenger Marie Newman in 2018 by 2,145 votes. Following an announcement by Newman on Tuesday, he will now face her again in the March 2020 primary.
Illinois’ 3rd District is considered to be a safe Democrat district, with the more substantial electoral battle taking place during the primary. At the general election, Lipinski was reelected with over 70 percent of the vote in 2018.
Despite the previous primary campaign focusing heavily on Lipinski’s strong pro-life record vs Newman’s unqualified support for abortion, Newman said on Twitter that the district now deserves “a representative who will vote like a real Democrat in Congress—not someone who routinely sides with Trump and conservative interest groups over his own constituents.”
Democrats for Life executive director Kristen Day told CNA she disagrees with Newman’s characterization of Lipinski as a conservative or a right-wing Democrat.
Instead, she said, Lipinski’s views on abortion are more in line with what Americans believe, espcially on abortion.
“When you look at polls, the majority of Americans have more moderate positions on abortion,” she said. Day told CNA she is worried that Newman’s repeated primary challenges are an effort to alienate pro-life Democrats, which she called “a wrong direction for the party.”
“The (Democratic) party has just gone so far to promote abortion,” said Day. “It just seems as though they want to purge all the pro-life voters. The party has just been really taken over.”
Day noted that despite Newman’s description of Lipinski as a bad Democrat, he has been consistently well-rated by left-leaning interest groups. The Sierra Fund, for instance, has given Lipinski a 100 percent rating on several occasions, and the AFL-CIO gave Lipinski a lifetime score of 91 percent. The National Education Association, the largest labor union of teachers, gave Lipinski a 100 percent rating in 2017-2018.
“They’re not being honest when they’re trying to tag Dan Lipinski as a conservative,” said Day. “He’s not.”
Lipinski has a score of 13 from the American Conservative Union’s legislative scorecard’s 2018 ratings. His Democratic colleagues Reps. Bill Foster (D-IL) and Brad Foster (D-IL) both received higher scores from the American Conservative Union.
So far in 2019, the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks has given Lipinski a zero rating, and his lifetime rating is just 12 percent.
Neither Lipinski nor Newman replied to requests for comment in time for publication.
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