Catholic Vote

Announcement:Sacred Music Colloquium XIX

“Seven Days of Musical Heaven”

June 22-28, 2009 (Monday noon through Sunday morning)
Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
Sponsored by the Church Music Association of America

• The preliminary 2009 Schedule
• Register online or by mail
• Download the poster or brochure
• 2009 music coming soon. Download 2008 polyphony and chant (preliminary; bound copies free at the event. Note that attendees are not responsible for learning or singing all music herein; the repertory is divided between 5 polyphonic choirs and 5 chant choirs.)
• Special information for attendees
• Still deciding? See this FAQ, view images from 2008, or listen to 2008 sound files.

New Photos from Kokomo Missa Cantata

St. Patrick’s in Kokomo, Indiana, offered its second monthly Missa Cantata for the Nativity of Our Lady, In Nativitate Beatae Mariae Virginis, on September 8th at 6:30 pm. The Mass was offered by Fr. David Hasser. An estimated 100+ of the faithful attended this Mass.  

For more information click this link.

Nativity of Our Lady Mass

Nativity of Our Lady Mass

Fr Z on H.E. Cardinal Hoyos’ Comments

Father Z at lunch in Rome                                                        on Friday September 19, 2008

Below, find the link to Fr Z on H.E. Cardinal Hoyos’ comments.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/09/reflecting-on-card-castrillons-remarks-the-other-day/

Pope to the Bishops of France

Strong words on Summorum Pontificum

It is never too often said that the priesthood is indispensable to the Church, in the very own interest of the lay faithful. Priests are a gift from God to the Church. Priests must never delegate to the faithful [those] functions which are related to their own mission.Dear Brothers in the episcopacy, I ask you to remain desirous to help your priests live in intimate union with Christ. Their spiritual life is the foundation of their apostolic life. You shall exhort them gently to daily prayer and to a dignified celebration of the Sacraments, particularly of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation, as Saint Francis de Sales did with his priests. Every priest should be able to feel glad to serve the Church. At the school of the Curé d’Ars, son of your land and patron of all priests of the world, do not cease to repeat that a man can do no greater deed than to give the Body and the Blood of Christ to the faithful, and to forgive sins.

Liturgical worship is the supreme expression of priestly and episcopal life, and also of catechetical teaching. Your mission of sanctification of the faithful people, dear Brothers, is indispensable for the growth of the Church. I was prompted to detail, in the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the conditions for the accomplishment of this mission, in that which relates to the possibility of using both the missal of Blessed John XXIII (1962) and that of Pope Paul VI (1970). The fruits of these new dispositions have already seen [the light of] day, and I hope that the indispensable pacification of the spirits is being accomplished, thank God.

I comprehend your difficulties, but I do not doubt that you will be able to reach, within reasonable time, solutions which are satisfactory to all, so that the seamless robe of Christ is not torn anymore. No one is excessive within the Church. Everyone, without exception, must be able to feel at home, and never rejected. God, who loves all men and wills that no one be lost, entrusts us with this mission of Pastors, making us Shepherds of His sheep. We can only give Him thanks for the honor and the confidence He places upon us. Let us endeavor to always be servants of unity.

Benedict XVI
Meeting with the Cardinals and Bishops of France,
Hémicycle Saint Bernadette, Lourdes
September 14, 2008

Pontiff Denies Claim 1962 Missal Is a Regression

Calls Liturgy a Living, Developing Reality

EN ROUTE TO PARIS, SEPT. 12, 2008 (Zenit.org).- An allowance for the celebration of Mass according to the 1962 Missal is in no way a return to the past, but rather an expression of pastoral concern, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today en route to France; he gave a brief press conference on the plane, answering four questions previously submitted by the journalists selected to be in the press corps accompanying the Holy Father.

The Pontiff said it is “groundless” to fear that “Summorum Pontificum” — which opened the way for a wider celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Missal — is a regression.

“This ‘motu proprio’ is simply an act of tolerance, with a pastoral objective, for people who have been formed in this liturgy, who love it, know it and want to live with this liturgy,” he said. “It is a small group, given that it presupposes a formation in Latin, a formation in a certain culture. But it seems to me a normal demand of faith and pastoral concern for a bishop of our Church to have love and tolerance for these people and permit them to live with this liturgy.”

“There is no opposition whatsoever between the liturgy renewed by the Second Vatican Council and this liturgy,” Benedict XVI continued. “Each day, the Council fathers celebrated Mass according to this old rite and, at the same time, have conceived a natural development for the liturgy in all of this century, since the liturgy is a living reality that develops and that conserves its identity in its development.”

“Therefore, there are certainly distinct accents, but a fundamental identity that excludes a contradiction, an opposition between the renewed liturgy and the preceding liturgy,” the Pope affirmed. “I think that there is the possibility of mutual enrichment. It’s clear that the renewed liturgy is the ordinary liturgy of our times.”

Encountering the Mother

Previously, the Holy Father answered a question about secularism and the lay state.

“It seems evident to me that laicism is not in contradiction with the faith,” the Pontiff said. “I would even say that it is a fruit of the faith, since the Christian faith was, from the beginning, a universal religion and therefore, did not identify itself with a state but was present in all states.

“Politics, the state, were not a religion, but a profane reality with a specific mission, and both should be mutually open.”

Another question gave Benedict XVI the chance to confess his love for France: “I love France, the great French culture, and above all, clearly, the great cathedrals, as well as the great French art, great theology.”

Lastly, the Pope spoke of the principal motive for his visit: the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.

He noted that the liturgical feast of the visionary, St. Bernadette, is also his birthday. “For this reason, I feel very close to this little saint, this little child, pure, humble, who spoke with the Virgin,” he said. “To encounter this reality, this presence of the Virgin in our era, to see the footsteps of this little youth who was a friend of the Virgin, and on the other hand, to encounter the Virgin, her mother, is on the other hand a very important event for me.

 

“Naturally, we’re not going to find miracles. I am going to encounter the love of the Mother, which is the true healing for all sorrows and to be in solidarity with those who suffer, in the love of the Mother.”

Upon his arrival to Paris, Benedict XVI was greeted by the pealing of the bells of the churches. A smiling President Nicolas Sarkozy received him at the airport, introducing the Pope to members of his family; the two also exchanged gifts.

This was followed by the Pope’s address in the Elysee’s great hall of celebrations to members of the government, parliamentarians and bishops.

Recent Catholic Politicians Comments on Abortion

Recent broadcast on Laura Ingraham’s radio show.

Biden avoids confrontation with his new bishop

  

Wilmington, Sep. 9, 2008 (CWNews.com) – Sen. Joseph Biden did not attend the September 8 installation Mass of Bishop W. Francis Malooly, the new leader of the Wilmington, Delaware diocese where the Democratic vice-presidential candidate lives.

Biden was in Wilmington on Monday morning, but left later in the day for a campaign appearance in Wisconsin, thus avoiding a potential showdown with his new bishop. There was no indication– either from the senator or from the diocese– whether Biden had originally planned to attend the afternoon installation.

In his homily the new bishop did not directly address the nationwide furor roused by Biden’s public statements on abortion. But Bishop Malooly did make an indirect reference to the issue, saying:

 

We will continue to stress the constant teaching of the Church that each person must respect every life from conception to natural death. And we will continue to seek the intercession of Saint Thomas More for Statesmen, Politicians, Supreme Court Justices, Judges and Lawyers—that they may be courageous and effective in defending and promoting the sanctity of human life, the foundation of every human right, the foundation of our love for the poor.

A much stronger response to Biden’s comments came from the Denver archdiocese, where Archbishop Charles Chaput and his auxiliary, Bishop James Conley, issued a new statement entitled Public Servants and Moral Reasoning. “Sen. Biden is a man of distinguished public service. That doesn’t excuse poor logic or bad facts,” they wrote. They continued:

If we claim to be Catholic, then American Catholics, including public officials who describe themselves as Catholic, need to act accordingly.

Update on Pelosi Comments:Bishops Respond

You probably have heard the  many rebukes by at least ten U.S. bishops of Speaker Pelosi’s comments on Church’s teaching (“a la Pelosi”) on abortion. By far the best has to be Cardinal’s Egan.
   [UV Carmel emphasis]

Where are the rest of the bishops?

STATEMENT OF HIS EMINENCE, EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN CONCERNING REMARKS MADE BY THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Like many other citizens of this nation, I was shocked to learn that the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America would make the kind of statements that were made to Mr. Tom Brokaw of NBC-TV on Sunday, August 24, 2008. What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly incredible in this day and age.

We are blessed in the 21st century with crystal-clear photographs and action films of the living realities within their pregnant mothers. No one with the slightest measure of integrity or honor could fail to know what these marvelous beings manifestly, clearly, and obviously are, as they smile and wave into the world outside the womb. In simplest terms, they are human beings with an inalienable right to live, a right that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is bound to defend at all costs for the most basic of ethical reasons. They are not parts of their mothers, and what they are depends not at all upon the opinions of theologians of any faith. Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being “chooses” to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name.

Edward Cardinal Egan

Archbishop of New York