CNA Staff, Jun 23, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- A few years ago Catholics in a suburb of Liverpool, England, recognized that they had a problem: parishioners didn’t know each other.
“Even people in the next pew to each other were maybe sa… […]
Denver Newsroom, Jun 22, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The newly elected president of the Austrian bishops’ conference has sought to clarify his role in the publication of a book that suggests how a Church blessing of same-sex couples might be “celebrated” in Catholic churches.
Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg was elected last week to chair the Austrian bishops’ conference. He has been connected to a controversial book concerning the possibility of “official” liturgical blessings of homosexual unions.
While Lackner has been reported to have commissioned or even published the book, a spokesperson said June 18 that the archbishop put in motion a study project on same-sex liturgical blessings, but he did not oversee the publication of that particular text.
The book, “The Benediction of Same-Sex Partnerships,” is edited by Father Ewald Volgger, director of the Institute for Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology at the Catholic Private University of Linz.
In its June 16 report on Lackner’s election as head of the Austrian bishops’ conference, CNA noted that the archbishop had served as chairman of the liturgical commission that commissioned the book.
Other reports have suggested a more direct connection between Lackner and the text.
In an April interview about the book’s release with KirchenZeitung, Volgger said that “the Austrian liturgical commission, chaired by Arcbishop Lackner, asked us to deal with” liturgical issues related to homosexuality, including the question of blessings for same-sex couples, which are the topic of the book.
English newspaper The Tablet reported May 6 that the book was “initiated by the archdiocese of Salzburg,” and that “the Austrian liturgical commission, chaired by Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg had commissioned the book’s authors to address the question of an official benediction.”
New Ways Ministries, which describes itself as a “a gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics,” reported May 25 that Lackner was responsible for publishing the book, because of “his desire for a more inclusive church.”
Television news program EWTN News Nightly also reported June 16 that Lackner commissioned the book. CNA and EWTN News Nightly are both services of EWTN News.
But in a June 18 email obtained by CNA, a spokesperson for the archbishop said that Lackner did not directly commission the book edited by Volgger, because his term as liturgical commission chairman ended in 2018. The archbishop did initiate the liturgical commission’s years-long study project on liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, the spokesperson explained.
While he was chairman, Lackner “asked the LKÖ to discuss the topic of liturgical offers for people in homosexual relationships in general,” the spokesperson said.
In the book’s foreword, Volgger offered more insight on the archbishop’s request.
“In the Liturgical Commission for Austria (LKÖ) on February 27th 2015 in Salzburg, the then chairman, Archbishop Franz Lackner, asked for an exchange on the question of blessings of homosexual couples. The occasion was a blessing ceremony in Switzerland, which had great media attention. In the discussion it became clear that a moral theological clarification is needed, as well as a change in the magisterium on this point to allow for an official liturgy for same-sex couples.”
The blessing ceremony Volgger referenced was performed by a Swiss Protestant Reformed minister; the media attention Volgger referenced included an interview in which the minister, Sibylle Forrer, explained why she conferred the blessing.
According to Lackner’s spokesperson, the archbishop’s request “led to a study day in February 2016 and the LKÖ agreed, that the results of this study day should be compiled and that the topic should be further monitored.”
The 2020 text was part of the ongoing development of that project, as Volgger indicated to KirchenZeitung, as was a 2019 symposium on the topic. But since November 2018, Bishop Anton Leichtfried of St. Polten has overseen the Austrian liturgical commission.
In his April interview, Volgger said that from his viewpoint, there are “a considerable number of bishops who would like to see a rethinking of sexual morality for the evaluation of same-sex partnerships.”
The priest also said that “a benediction,” of a same-sex couple “as it is proposed from a liturgical-theological point of view, would also have an official character, through which the Church expresses the obligation of fidelity and the exclusiveness of the relationship.”
In 2003, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”
CNA asked Lackner’s spokesperson why the archbishop was only now attempting to clarify his involvement, given that he has been reported for months to be responsible for the book. CNA also asked whether the book has the official approval of the Austrian bishops’ conference, of which Lackner is now president, or of the conference’s liturgical commission.
The archdiocese has not yet responded.
CNA Staff, Jun 22, 2020 / 05:30 am (CNA).- A bishop has urged Christians to speak out against plans to relax Sunday trading laws in the United Kingdom as the economy reels from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a June 21 homily at Shrewsbury Cathedral, Bishop Mark Davies criticized the government’s intention to lift the current six-hour limit on Sunday trading.
“As we emerge from lockdown, it is regrettable that the government is considering removing the remaining legal protections of Sunday in order to make it a full trading day,” the bishop of Shrewbury said.
“Proposals for unrestricted Sunday trading may be included within plans to revive economic activity and so place new demands upon the very shop workers and their families who have supported us throughout this crisis.”
“Whatever economic advantages the government may calculate, the human loss will surely be greater if Sunday becomes just another working day.”
The bishop, whose diocese covers the English counties of Shropshire and Cheshire, as well as parts of Merseyside, Derbyshire, and Greater Manchester, said that scrapping Sunday trading restrictions could lead to the downgrading of major Christian celebrations.
He said: “We would be discarding the Christian heritage of a shared day of rest and all the human values which the observance of Sunday has involved.”
“At a deeper level, Britain would be discarding a key element of our Christian identity for by logical extension either Easter and Christmas Day might equally be treated as merely another working day.”
“If degrading Sunday as a day of rest, of family, of community, of worship, marginally enhanced our faltering economy it would not be justified because of its deeper impact upon human wellbeing. This is a moment for us to raise our voices, so our Christian Sunday is not discarded by a political sleight of hand.”
The bishop was speaking via livestream as public Masses are not permitted in the U.K. due to restrictions imposed by the government to contain the coronavirus. Churches were allowed to reopen for individual private prayer June 15.
The Conservative government is planning to relax Sunday trading laws as part of its coronavirus recovery bill. According to the Office for National Statistics, the U.K.’s monthly gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 20.4% in April, the first full month of a nationwide lockdown.
On the same day that Davies made his remarks, the Daily Telegraph reported that more than 50 Conservative Members of Parliament opposed the change. It said that, given the scale of opposition, the plans “look to be in trouble.”
The U.K., which has a population of almost 67 million, has recorded 42,717 deaths from the virus as of June 22, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center — the world’s third highest reported death toll after that of the United States and Brazil.
CNA Staff, Jun 21, 2020 / 05:32 am (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI will return to Rome and the Vatican on Monday, according to the Diocese of Regensburg.
The former pope has been in Bavaria since June 18. He flew there from Rome to see his 96-year-… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 20, 2020 / 08:24 am (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI will visit his family’s gravesite and his former home in Pentling, Germany, in the afternoon on Saturday.
According to a June 20 statement from the Diocese of Regensburg, the … […]
Rome, Italy, Jun 19, 2020 / 08:45 am (CNA).- The trustees of the Pontifical Irish College decided last week that the national seminary in Rome will no longer host men studying for the priesthood in Ireland, beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year.
Th… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 19, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The Sacred Heart of Jesus “lights our way and illumines a path in the darkness,” an English bishop said Thursday.
In a reflection dated June 18, the eve of the feast of the Sacred Heart, Bishop Ma… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 19, 2020 / 02:32 am (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass with his ailing brother on the feast of the Sacred Heart during his first full day in Germany Friday.
A June 19 statement from the Diocese of Regensburg said that after Benedict XVI arrived from Rome at noon on Thursday he immediately visited his 96-year-old brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.
The brothers celebrated Mass together at the house in Regensburg and the pope emeritus then traveled to the diocesan seminary in the afternoon to rest. In the evening, he returned to see his brother.
The diocese said: “For the first morning in his old homeland, an authentic Bavarian breakfast awaited the pope emeritus in the seminary. There were pretzels, which Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who accompanied him, was also pleased about.”
“In the course of the morning the two brothers will celebrate together a high mass for today’s feast of the Sacred Heart.”
The diocese added that “afterwards there will be apple strudel,” a popular pastry in Bavaria and Austria.
News of Benedict XVI’s visit broke on the morning of June 18. It is believed to be his first trip outside Italy since he stood down as pope in 2013.
In a statement Thursday, Regensburg diocese said: “Pope emeritus Benedict XVI flew this morning from Rome to Bavaria to be at the side of his seriously ill 96-year-old brother. It is perhaps the last time that the two brothers, Georg and Joseph Ratzinger, will see each other in this world.”
The diocese asked the public to respect the two brothers’ privacy during the visit.
“All people who wish to express their sympathy are invited to say a silent prayer for the two brothers,” it said.
The statement continued: “The 93-year-old pope emeritus landed in Munich on Thursday, June 18, at about 11:45 a.m. There Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer welcomed him warmly and accompanied him on the journey to Regensburg. The pope emeritus is staying in the seminary of the Diocese of Regensburg. The date of his return journey is not yet fixed.”
“Benedict XVI is traveling in the company of his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, his doctor, his nurse and a religious sister. The Pope emeritus made the decision to travel to his brother in Regensburg at short notice, after consulting with Pope Francis.”
Msgr. Georg Ratzinger is a former choir master of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg.
On June 29, 2011, he celebrated his 60th anniversary as a priest in Rome together with his brother. Both men were ordained priests in 1951.
CNA Staff, Jun 18, 2020 / 01:13 pm (CNA).- Over the last seven decades at least 3,000 children were sexually abused by Catholic clergy or officials in France, according to the latest statements from an investigating commission, with many more feared to… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 18, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- An English bishop has hailed the restoration of a cross atop his cathedral as “a sign of hope” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury said June 16: “In this year of global pandemic, it seems especially appropriate to see the cathedral cross restored as the sign of hope in the victory of life and love. Raised high above the cathedral, this cross that will continue to shine on the skyline of Shrewsbury for generations to come.”
The wrought iron cross was installed at the Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and St. Peter of Alcantara, Shrewbury, in 1856, the year the cathedral opened.
According to Shrewsbury diocese, the cross is an early example of the work of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was inspired in part by the ideas of architect Augustus Pugin, who designed the cathedral located in the county of Shropshire in western England.
The diocese said the cross was in “dire need” of restoration due to rust and other damage. The conservation specialist M. Salt Limited removed the cross for the first time since its installation, repairing it and repainting it. It was restored to the cathedral’s bell tower the day that Catholic churches in England were permitted to reopen for private prayer following the coronavirus lockdown.
In a June 16 press statement, the diocese said: “There is no documentary evidence to show who designed and commissioned the cross though architects suspect it was AW Pugin’s son, Edward, who took the responsibility to finish the cathedral after the death of his father in 1852.”
Conservation expert Mike Salt suggested that the wrought iron cross was inspired by Jean Tijou, a French Huguenot ironworker who made gates and railings for Hampton Court Palace, King Henry VIII’s favorite palace.
The body of the cathedral cross is made of wrought iron with charcoal iron used to form ornate leaves. Salt said the use of charcoal iron indicated the cross was made using the repoussé technique associated with Tijou, in which metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side.
Salt said: “In my mind therefore, the cross is historically important not only because it demonstrates the best in the [Arts and Crafts] movement, but also because it demonstrated that it was still possible to reproduce Tijou’s work in a modern environment. I would like to think that its repair and conservation has continued that theme.”
The work on the cross is part of an ambitious restoration project at the cathedral, which is one of the smallest in England.
Davies, who became the 11th bishop of Shrewsbury in 2010, has brought the Tabernacle back to the center of the cathedral. He has also obtained permission to remove wooden platforming that created an extended sanctuary in 1980s.
Writing in the Catholic Herald in 2019, Davies said: “The new cathedrals of England were built to create sacred space for the people of our land. In Shrewsbury, we are seeking to renew this mission so that our cathedral may continue to present the vision of the Catholic faith to new generations who might know little of its beauty.”
“This mission is ultimately to lead us to recognize Jesus Christ truly present in the mystery and reality of the Eucharist.”
© Catholic World Report