Practice our Catholic Faith, on our journey to Heaven

Roman Catholic bishops say they will confront Barack Obama over his support for abortion rights.

BALTIMORE—The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops vowed Tuesday to forcefully confront the Obama administration over its support for abortion rights, saying the church and religious freedom could be under attack in the new presidential administration.

In an impassioned discussion on Catholics in public life, several bishops said they would accept no compromise on abortion policy. Many condemned Catholics who had argued it was morally acceptable to back President-elect Obama because he pledged to reduce abortion rates.

And several prelates promised to call out Catholic policy makers on their failures to follow church teaching. Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Pa., singled out Vice President-elect Biden, a Catholic, Scranton native who supports abortion rights.

“I cannot have a vice president-elect coming to Scranton to say he’s learned his values there when those values are utterly against the teachings of the Catholic Church,” Martino said. The Obama-Biden press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas said politicians “can’t check your principles at the door of the legislature.”

Naumann has said repeatedly that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic Democrat who supports abortion rights, should stop taking Holy Communion until she changes her stance.

“They cannot call themselves Catholic when they violate such a core belief as the dignity of the unborn,” Naumann said Tuesday.

The discussion occurred on the same day the bishops approved a new “Blessing of a Child in the Womb.” The prayer seeks a healthy pregnancy for the mother and makes a plea that “our civic rulers” perform their duties “while respecting the gift of human life.”

Chicago Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is preparing a statement during the bishops’ fall meeting that will press Obama on abortion.

The bishops suggested that the final document include the message that “aggressively pro-abortion policies” would be viewed “as an attack on the church.”

Along with their theological opposition to the procedure, church leaders say they worry that any expansion in abortion rights could require Catholic hospitals to perform abortions or lose federal funding. Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Chicago said the hospitals would close rather than comply.
During the campaign, many prelates had spoken out on abortion more boldly than they had in 2004, telling Catholic politicians and voters that the issue should be the most important consideration in setting policy and deciding which candidate to back.

Yet, according to exit polls, 54 percent of Catholics chose Obama, who is Protestant. The new bishops’ statement is meant to drive home the point in a way that cannot be misconstrued.
“We have a very important thing to say. I think we should say it clearly and with a punch,” said New York Cardinal Edward Egan.

But some bishops said church leaders should take care with the tone of the statement.

Bishops differ on whether Catholic lawmakers should refrain from receiving Communion if they diverge from central church beliefs. Each bishop sets policy in his own diocese.

“We must act and be perceived as acting as caring pastors and faithful teachers,” said Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, S.D.

But Dr. Patrick Whelan, a pediatrician and president of Catholic Democrats, said angry statements from church leaders were counterproductive and would only alienate Catholics.
“We’re calling on the bishops to move away from the more vicious language,” Whelan said. He said the church needs to act “in a more creative, constructive way,” to end abortion.
Catholics United was among the groups that argued in direct mail and TV ads during the campaign that taking the “pro-life” position means more than opposing abortion rights.
Chris Korzen, the group’s executive director, said, “we honestly want to move past the deadlock” on abortion. He said church leaders were making that task harder.

“What are the bishops going to do now?” Korzen said. ”`They have burned a lot of bridges with the Democrats and the new administration.”

http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=281

What’s wrong with Catholic voters? What’s wrong with Catholics?

by Phil Lawler, November 5, 2008

Yesterday, according to the exit polls, between 53 and 54% of American Catholic voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama, despite the Democratic candidate’s enthusiastic support for unrestricted legal abortion.

Nationwide, Protestant voters supported John McCain, by a solid 54- 45% margin. But the Catholic vote broke for Obama. Why?

Earlier this week the US Conference of Catholic Bishops released a helpful listing of the 50 American states, with the proportion of population in each state. In 7 states, Catholics make up more than 30% of the population. Obama captured all 7 of those states on Election Day. In 8 states, Catholics account for less than 5% of the population. Seven of those states swung for McCain, and the 8th, North Carolina, is still listed as “too close to call” as I write this analysis.

To be sure, America’s Catholic population is heavily concentrated in states that have a liberal political tilt. But is that a coincidence? Are those states hotbeds of liberalism despite the heavy Catholic presence, or because of it?

Yes, Catholics have traditionally leaned toward the Democratic Party for historical reasons. But why have Catholic voters remained doggedly loyal to a party that has come, in the early 21st century, to be wholly allied with the “culture of death” on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and embryonic stem-cell research?

The support that Obama won among Catholic voters is noteworthy because in the last presidential contest, in 2004, President Bush won 52% of the Catholic vote while his opponent John Kerry himself a Catholic! managed only 46%. Catholic support for the Democratic candidate rose markedly in this campaign, even though the Democratic contender was the most militantly pro-abortion candidate ever to win a major party’s presidential nomination.

This trend is all the more remarkable because over the course of the past several weeks, dozens of American bishops issued strong public statements reminding their people of their moral obligation to vote in defense of human life. Those statements varied in candor and in quality, but their overall impact was remarkable. The 2008 campaign produced a seismic change in the attitude of the American hierarchy; the bishops as a group were far more outspoken, far more explicit, than in any previous election.

And still most Catholics voted for Obama. Again: why?

Before answering that question, let me cite one more vitally important piece of polling information: Among Catholic voters who attend Mass weekly, McCain won majority support: 54- 45%. Among those who do not attend weekly Mass, the margin for Obama was an overwhelming 61- 37%. Thus Obama drew his support from inactive Catholics. And unfortunately, most American Catholics are inactive.

In an interview recorded just before Election Day, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver explained that he had decided to take a prominent public stand on the obligations of Catholic voters because the “quieter approach to these things has not been effective.” How right he was! He and many other prelates deserve the gratitude of loyal Catholics for their willingness to take a more energetic approach. This year, at last, the American bishops were clear and forthright in their teaching. Yet on Election Day it became evident that millions of American Catholics weren’t listening.

Should we be surprised if Catholics ignore directives from the hierarchy? Should we be surprised that Catholics who do not attend Mass regularly, thereby violating a precept of the Church, ignore Church teachings on other issues as well? No, this result was predictable.

An entire generation of American Catholics has grown accustomed to dissent from Church teaching, and grown accustomed to seeing their bishops tolerate that dissent. In the 35 years since Roe v. Wade, Catholics have watched their Church leaders handle pro-abortion Catholic politicians with kid gloves, treating their moral treason as a minor annoyance rather than a public scandal. Yes, the bishops routinely denounced abortion; but at the same time they treated the public supporters of taxpayer-funded abortion with jovial deference. Puzzled lay Catholics concluded that the bishops didn’t really take the issue too seriously, and the laity in turn stopped taking their bishops seriously. A few dozen statements from brave orthodox bishops in the autumn of 2008 however clear, however compelling were not enough to undo a generation of damage.

Abortion is not an isolated issue. Lackadaisical American Catholics are not ignoring Church leadering on this issue alone, but on the entire range of Catholic teaching. Most Catholics skip Sunday Mass regularly. Most Catholics rarely if ever go to Confession. Most Catholics use contraceptives. Most Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. Most Catholics no longer accept Church authority on any issue. Why should we be surprised, then, if on Election Day most Catholics ignore Church teachings on their moral obligation to vote in defense of human life?

For most of my life I have lived in Massachusetts, a state whose political culture was once thoroughly dominated by active Catholics. In my book The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture I explain how that Catholic culture deteriorated, as the faithful drifted away from the Church, until today the political scene in Massachusetts is dominated not by Catholics but by ex-Catholics, thoroughly hostile to the teachings of the Church.

Are Catholics in other states following the same trend? Will the next presidential election see even strong support for the “culture of death” among voters who identify themselves inaccurately as believing Catholics? Regrettably, I see the same forces that corrupted Catholicism in my native state now active all across the nation.

To repair the damage, we must recognize that the problem is not restricted to abortion, nor to defense-of-life issues. Indeed it is not, strictly speaking, a political problem. To restore the integrity of the Catholic vote, we must first restore the integrity of the Catholic faith, and rebuild the foundations of a Catholic culture.

The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted to honor Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pope St. Pius V and all Christians had prayed the Rosary for victory. The Rosary, or the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is one of the best prayers to Mary, the Mother of God.

Pope Benedict XVI invites all families to pray the rosary for the intentions of the Pope, the mission of the Church and peace. “It is as if every year Our Lady invited us to rediscover the beauty of this prayer, so simple and profound.” The rosary, a “contemplative and Christocentric prayer, inseparable from the meditation of Sacred Scripture,” is “the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary,” said the Pontiff.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is also the feast of St. Mark, who succeeded St. Sylvester and was pope for eight months during Constantine’s reign. He zealously continued the great work of Church organization made possible by the period of freedom from persecution due to the Emperor’s conversion. He built two churches in Rome, one of which, the titulus Marci, has become the church of St. Mark, and still exists. He died in 336.

Last week I traveled to Pittsburgh PA, for the funeral of my cousin, Marge.

She was 65 and the mother of Kim and Colleen and grandmother of Walter, Luke, and Carolyn. She was the daughter of my Aunt Margaret.

Marge retired from Consol Energy in 2003. She enjoyed painting and was an active member of Holy Child Parish as a Eucharistic Minister, CCD teacher, and teacher at the school.

May God bless her and her family.

I love this verse, MARK 16: 13 – 19:

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples,

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

President George W. Bush arrived on Friday for a special audience with Pope Benedict XVI, who is returning the hospitality he enjoyed at the White House in April.

Swiss Guards in their striped regalia stood to attention as Bush stepped out of a black limousine with his wife Laura and was warmly greeted by the head of the Roman Catholic Church outside the medieval St John’s Tower.

The US leader could be heard exclaiming “what an honour” as he clasped the pontiff’s hands in his.

US Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon, a Catholic, kissed the pontiff’s hand.

Bush and the pope then went into a tete-a-tete in the tower, a venue reserved for illustrious guests instead of the usual site for papal audiences, the pontiff’s private library.

The two, who also met at the Vatican last year, were later to stroll in the secluded Vatican Gardens.

Benedict’s trip to the United States coincided with his 81st birthday, which he celebrated in grand style at the White House on April 16, when he was greeted with a 21-gun salute and some 13,500 well-wishers filled the South Lawn.

Bush “is a huge fan of the pope and has full respect for him,” White House chief of protocol Nancy Goodman Brinker said.

The US leader “fully supports the (Catholic) Church and fully supports everything this pope is trying to do on behalf of peace, education and hunger in cooperation with world political leaders,” she told the ANSA news agency.

Bush, whose relations with pope John Paul II were strained because of the US-led invasion of Iraq, feels closer to Benedict, who appreciates the religious fervour of the president, a born-again Protestant.

The two see eye to eye on key social issues, as both are staunch opponents of same-sex marriage, abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, though they diverge notably on the death penalty.

Benedict has also voiced his concerns for the plight of Christians in Iraq and over harsh CIA interrogation methods.

On Friday, the two leaders will pray before a statue of the Madonna before bidding each other farewell.

The Italian press has been rife with speculation that Bush may convert to Catholicism as his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, did years ago, as well as former British prime minister Tony Blair. The latter two men are both married to Catholics.

Bush had talks in Rome on Thursday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on the third leg of his farewell tour of Europe, which has taken him to Slovenia and Germany and will end with stops in France and Britain.

Pope says trip to U.S. was opportunity to give, receive hope, faith

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope Benedict XVI said his April 15 to 20 visit to the United Nations and the United States was an opportunity to give and to receive a witness to the power of hope and faith.

Reflecting on his trip during his April 30 weekly general audience, the pope said the hope that flows from faith in Christ can vanquish even the darkness cast by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Christian hope, “stronger than sin and death, animated a moment filled with emotion, which I passed in silence in the abyss of ground zero, where I lighted a candle, praying for all the victims of that terrible tragedy,” the pope said.

The Pope began his general audience by publicly thanking the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and President George W. Bush for inviting him, and all those who greeted him with affection and offered prayers for the success of his visit.

Particularly when celebrating his third anniversary as pope with an April 19 Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, he said “it was a moving moment in which I experienced in a tangible way all of the support of the church for my ministry.”

Addressing the 20,000 people who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the audience, the Pope said he set out on the trip “to confirm Catholics in the faith, to renew and increase brotherhood with all Christians and to proclaim to all the message of Christ our hope.”

Speaking in German without his prepared text, the pope said that everywhere he went in the United States “I was able to experience the fact that the faith is alive, that Christ is there today among the people, that he shows them the way and helps them to build the present as well as the future.”

The Pope told the German speakers that God gave him an opportunity to try to strengthen the faith of others, “but at the same time, I was strengthened and came back strengthened.”

In his main audience talk, Pope Benedict said that the United States, from its founding, was built “on the foundation of a felicitous joining of religious, ethical and political principles, which still today constitutes a valid example of healthy secularity.”

The United States, he said, is a place “where the religious dimension in all its variety is not only tolerated, but is valued as the spirit of the nation and as the fundamental guarantee of human rights and responsibilities.”

Modern life and global realities continue to challenge the country, he said, and the Catholic Church has an obligation to offer its voice in order to help citizens build a society worthy of the human person and one that uses its resources to help others.

The timing of the trip, he said, was chosen to help celebrate the bicentennials of four archdioceses in the United States: New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville, Ky. They were erected from the Baltimore Diocese, the nation’s first diocese, which was elevated to an archdiocese in the same year, 1808.

“The original small flock has developed enormously, enriching itself with the faith and traditions of the successive influx of immigrants. To that church which now faces the challenges of the present, I had the joy of proclaiming again Christ, our hope, yesterday, today and forever,” he said.

Praising the zeal of the bishops and priests who have led U.S. Catholics over the years and “the fervor and generosity of its faithful,” Pope Benedict said the Gospel and Christian values particularly the value of human life and the centrality of the traditional family—must be strengthened in order to face new moral, ethical and political challenges.

As he did throughout his trip, the pope also spoke at his audience about the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the U.S. church.

“Thinking of the painful affair of the abuse of minors committed by ordained ministers, I wanted to express my closeness to the bishops, encouraging them in their commitment to bind up the wounds and to reinforce relations with their priests,” he said.

Pope Benedict said the “multicultural vocation” of the United States and the active presence of a wide variety of Christian communities and other religions gave him an opportunity to meet with religious leaders to promote closer cooperation among Christians and a dialogue to strengthen peace and religious values with other believers.

At the United Nations, he said, he wanted to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and confirm its enduring value precisely because it is based on “the dignity of the human person, created by God in his image and likeness, in order to cooperate with him in his plan for life and for peace.”

Respect for human rights and peace can flourish only where there is justice, “an ethical order valid for all times and all peoples,” which can be summarized with Jesus’ phrase, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Editor’s Note: The Vatican text of the Pope’s remarks in English is available at:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20080430_en.html

The four Gospels give varying names of the twelve. According to the list occurring in each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Mark 3:13-19, Matthew 10:1-4, Luke 6:12-16), the Twelve chosen by Jesus near the beginning of his ministry, those whom also He named Apostles, were, according to the Gospels of Mark and Matthew:

*Peter: Renamed by Jesus, his original name was Simon (Mark 3:16); was a fisherman from the Bethsaida “of Galilee” (John 1:44, cf. John 12:21). Also known as Simon bar Jonah, Simon bar Jochanan (Aram.), Cephas (Aram.), and Simon Peter.

James, son of Zebedee: The brother of John.

John: The brother of James. Jesus named both of them Bo-aner’ges, which means “sons of thunder”.(Mark 3:17)

Andrew: The brother of Simon/Peter, a Bethsaida fisherman, and a former disciple of John the Baptist.

Philip: From the Bethsaida of Galilee (John 1:44, John 12:21)

Bartholomew, son of Talemai: It has been suggested that he is the same person as Nathanael, who is mentioned in John 1:45-51.

Matthew: The tax collector.

Thomas: Also known as Judas Thomas Didymus – Aramaic T’oma’ = twin, and Greek Didymous = twin.
James, son of Alphaeus: Generally identified with “James the Less”, and also identified by Roman Catholics with “James the Just”.

Thaddeus: In some manuscripts of Matthew, the name “Lebbaeus” occurs in this place. Thaddeus is traditionally identified with Jude; see below.
Simon the Zealot: Some have identified him with Simeon of Jerusalem.

Judas Iscariot: The disciple who later betrayed Jesus. (Mark 3:19) The name Iscariot may refer to the Judaean towns of Kerioth or to the sicarii (Jewish nationalist insurrectionists), or to Issachar. Also referred to as “Judas, the son of Simon” (John 6:71 and John 13:26). He was replaced as an apostle shortly after Jesus’ resurrection by Matthias.

The Gospel of Luke differs slightly, listing a “Judas, son of James” and not listing a “Thaddeus.” In order to harmonize the accounts, some traditions have said that Luke’s “Judas, son of James” refers to the same person as Mark and Matthew’s “Thaddeus,” though it is not clear whether this has a good basis in the text or the use of the names historically. Luke has “Simon the Zealot” in place of “Simon the Cananean”. It is unclear whether these two Simons refer to the same person.

The Gospel of John, unlike the Synoptic Gospels, does not offer a formal list of apostles, though it does refer to the Twelve in 6:67, 6:70, and 6:71. The following ten apostles are identified by name:

Peter
Andrew (identified as Peter’s brother)
the sons of Zebedee (plural form implies at least two apostles)
Philip
Nathanael
Thomas (also called Didymus (11:16, 20:24, 21:2))
Judas Iscariot
Judas (not Iscariot) (14:22)

The individual that the Gospel of John names as Nathanael has traditionally been identified as the same person that the other Gospels call Bartholomew. The other three Gospels, however, contain a complete list of the twelve and contain no reference to a “Nathanael.”

Thus, the four Gospel accounts do not agree as to the names of the twelve. The sons of Zebedee presumably refers to James and John, while Judas (not Iscariot) probably refers to the same Jude, son of James, as the Gospel of Luke’s list, traditionally identified with Thaddeus. Missing from the Gospel of John are James, son of Alphaeus, Matthew, and Simon the Canaanite/Zealot. In any case, the author certainly does not bring up any explicit denial of those two apostles, and never actually lists the twelve.

By the second century, the presence of two individuals named Simon (Peter and Simon the Zealot) in the list of the Synoptic Gospels allowed a case to be made for Simon Magus being the other Simon, and hence one of the twelve apostles.[citation needed] The second Simon may also have been Simeon of Jerusalem, the second leader of the Jerusalem church.

The similarity between Matthew 9:9-10, Mark 2:14-15 and Luke 5:27-29 may indicate that Matthew was also known as Levi.

Almighty Father, who pours forth blessings in
abundance upon us, we humbly pray that you
will inspire, guide and protect Pope Benedict
XVI on his pastoral visit to the United States.

Lord God, bless our Holy Father who comes as
a messenger of peace and charity to all people
of faith and good will. May his presence in the
United States serve to build up the bonds that
unite us who are each made in your image and
likeness, and may his teaching and witness
strengthen the faith of the People of God.

Father, we lovingly entrust Pope Benedict’s
visit to the care of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Queen of the Americas. Through her prayers
may he be preserved from all harm, and may
he shine forth with the truth of the Gospel that
he proclaims, and may his presence among us
foster a renewal of the Church in our country.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The papal message, released by the Vatican press office on April 8, came in the form of a video. The message was released one week before the Pope is scheduled to arrive in the US. The Pope spoke mostly in English, with a brief portion in Spanish.

The full text of the Pope’s message follows:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the United States of America,

The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you! In just a few days from now, I shall begin my apostolic visit to your beloved country. Before setting off, I would like to offer you a heartfelt greeting and an invitation to prayer. As you know, I shall only be able to visit two cities: Washington and New York. The intention behind my visit, though, is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States. At the same time, I earnestly hope that my presence among you will be seen as a fraternal gesture towards every ecclesial community, and a sign of friendship for members of other religious traditions and all men and women of good will. The risen Lord entrusted the apostles and the Church with his Gospel of love and peace, and his intention in doing so was that the message should be passed on to all peoples.

At this point I should like to add some words of thanks, because I am conscious that many people have been working hard for a long time, both in Church circles and in the public services, to prepare for my journey. I am especially grateful to all who have been praying for the success of the visit, since prayer is the most important element of all. Dear friends, I say this because I am convinced that without the power of prayer, without that intimate union with the Lord, our human endeavors would achieve very little. Indeed this is what our faith teaches us. It is God who saves us, he saves the world, and all of history. He is the shepherd of his people. I am coming, sent by Jesus Christ, to bring you his word of life.

Together with your bishops, I have chosen as the theme of my journey three simple but essential words: “Christ our hope.” Following in the footsteps of my venerable predecessors, Paul VI and John Paul II, I shall come to United States of America as Pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture, and social condition. Yes, Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father.

I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you, in a series of celebrations and gatherings. I shall also bring the message of Christian hope to the great assembly of the United Nations, to the representatives of all the peoples of the world. Indeed, the world has greater need of hope than ever: hope for peace, for justice, and for freedom; but this hope can never be fulfilled without obedience to the law of God, which Christ brought to fulfillment in the commandment to love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to you, and avoid doing what you would not want them to do. This “golden rule” is given in the Bible, but it is valid for all people, including non-believers. It is the law written on the human heart; on this we can all agree, so that when we come to address other matters we can do so in a positive and constructive manner for the entire human community.

Dear brothers and sisters, dear friends in the United States, I am very much looking forward to being with you. I want you to know that, even if my itinerary is short, with just a few engagements, my heart is close to all of you, especially to the sick, the weak, and the lonely. I thank you once again for your prayerful support of my mission. I reach out to every one of you with affection, and I invoke upon you the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.