The Border Crossers

The Border Crossers, by Peter E. Gordon, The New Republic, review of From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965, by John Connelly

Forty years following the smoke

On June 29, 1972 at a Mass for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul and on the ninth anniversary of his coronation as Pope, Paul VI delivered a homily that included saying that through some opening the smoke of Satan has entered the Temple of God. Or so it can be translated from the "da qualche fessura sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio" of the Italian text at the Vatican website. The full text had not been translated into English or any other language there. Fr. Stephanos Pedrano provided his translation to Jimmy Akin.

The phrase is also referenced at the Vatican website in a homily by Cardinal Bertone on September 6, 2008, the 30th anniversary of Pope Paul's death, and in this interview of Cardinal Battista Re by Mario Ponzi in L'Osservatore Romano, November 4, 2009, both also in Italian.

BB king

From our suburban weekly's police blotter,

"The right rear panel of a vehicle was damaged when it was hit by an object, possibly a BB, while driving south on South 27th Street at Ryan Road about 11 p.m. June 16.

"An officer was flagged down by a driver whose vehicle was damaged by a BB near 28th Street and Briarwood Drive at 11:20 p.m. June 16.

"A Racine man reported his vehicle was damaged when it was struck by a hard object while he was driving south on 27th Street between Puetz and Ryan roads between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. June 16.

"A caller reported her vehicle was damaged by a BB while she drove south on 27th Street near Ryan Road at 11:40 p.m. June 16.

"A caller reported the passenger side rear window of her car was damaged by a pellet while it was parked at Sunrise Motel, 9347 S. 27th St., at 7:35 p.m. June 18. The victim said the damage occurred after 10 p.m. June 16."

Oldies turn golden

Father Norm Langenbrunner in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati posts on the recent inaugural assembly of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. If you wonder when they got to the pity party aspect of such a meeting,

"The convention began with a session in which priests were invited to verbalize their 'laments' about their ministry, their perception of the Church, their struggles with living the priestly vocation."

That's the spirit ... of Vatican II I've encountered in self-described Vatican II priests.

"The intent was to spell out what a priest can control, what he can influence, and what are the facts of life he cannot change."

Sounds like a Prayer of St. Francis plaque. In the "cannot change" category, Fr. Norm estimates "The median age of the priests in attendance was about 70" which is beyond the regular retirement age for priests in our Archdiocese.

"[Dr. Richard] Gaillardetz's key-note presentation described Vatican II as the construction of a new set of walls around the old Church."

Can't say I've seen anything suggesting that in the Council documents, and I wonder if the presenter meant that, but I could agree that Vatican II priests tend to have a new set of walls around themselves.

"He [Gaillardetz] urged the AUSCP to insist on the 'facticity' of the Council (Vatican II happened, and it was an ecumenical council)... ."

Perhaps our pastor, a AUSCP founder, will be discussing that facticity in a future bulletin column.

"In his key-note Ruff [Father Anthony Ruff, OSB] addressed the issue of the translation of the Roman Missal... ."

He has the usual objections. Fr. Norm, by the way, has parishioners who struggle with the word consubstantial. Before the Council, there was not more than insubstantial difficulty teaching Catholic grade school kids the meaning of a word like "consubstantiation".

"Retired Bishop Rembert Weakland, who led a workshop on liturgy, and retired Bishop Tom Gumbleton were present."

While AUSCP is rather like an AARP for Vatican II priests and bishops, there were a few attendees who were not born while a Pius was pope.

"Among the younger clergy was a priest who had been ordained for one year; he assessed the association as a threat to the Church."

Unlikely, given AUSCP's internal contradiction, e.g.:

"In a general assessment of the conference, a number of priests were vocal: ... we must go forward, not back to the 50s, not back to the 70s, but forward... ."

while,

"Also in attendance at the national gathering will be the St. Louis Jesuits (the Catholic composers well-known in the 1970s and 80s)..."

(via comment by Aquinas to this post)

Dispirit of Vatican II

In early 2006 in one of his first posts at dotCommonweal, Joseph A. Komonchak observed,

"Over the last several years I’ve given many talks about Vatican II, in the US, Canada, and Australia. On almost every one of those occasions, the audience was by substantial majority over (and often well over) fifty years old.

"A small group of concerned Catholic lay people in Westchester Co., NY, organized in the shock of the scandals, is composed largely of people over sixty. ..."

"During the Bishop Gaillet affair several years ago in France, polls showed that it was mostly Vatican II – aged Catholics who were publicly protesting. ..."

Take a look at the videos posted at the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests from its Inaugural Assembly, "Vatican II Lives".

The same demographic but better-dressed, I expect, will be attending "Vatican II at 50: The Vision and Dreams Yet to be Realized" featuring Richard Gaillardetz, Ph.D., at Cardinal Stritch University in August, this year's Symposium on Lay Ministries.

Appropriately for a Vatican II retrospective, the link on the flyer for Mr. Gaillardetz's recent America article is to the magazine's archived issues, rather than to the available direct link to the article.

Man waits in line to bite dog

"Ashton Kutcher’s production company is suing for $1.4 million because it isn’t being allowed to spend more time at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles for a reality show." --Associated Press

Inspired by Washingtons

Our Archbishop's "Love One Another" email newsletter sends this Extra of a Litany for Liberty: For use during the Fortnight for Freedom, from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

And as Bishop John Carroll said in his February 22, 1800 Eulogy on George Washington,

"May these United States flourish in pure and undefiled religion, in morality, peace, union, liberty, and the enjoyment of their excellent Constitution, as long as respect, honor, and veneration shall gather around the name of Washington; that is, whilst there still shall be any surviving record of human events!"

Taylorism, Progressivism, and Rule by Experts

"Mainstream Progressivism, far from embracing a left-wing vision of class struggle, saw class conflict as a form of irrationality that could be transcended by expertise." --Kevin A. Carson

Bench press

"let us never wish to see our citizens occupied at a work-bench" --Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

"We can speak of socializing only when the subject character of society is ensured, that is to say, when on the basis of his work each person is fully entitled to consider himself a part-owner of the great workbench at which he is working with every one else." --Pope John Paul II, Laborem exercens

The Unshushables

A recent update on Joel Hodgson, post-Mystery Scienct Theater 3000.

and that rhymes with fool and that stands for...

From our suburban weekly's police blotter:

"A 34-year-old Franklin woman was arrested for battery after she slapped a 35-year-old woman in the face during an argument over pool rules at an apartment complex ... . The 35-year-old woman was cited for disorderly conduct after calling the suspect several vulgar names."

Memory, whole

Terry Mattingly clarifies the timeline of the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church in the U.S.

"In short, if the crisis is primarily about lawyers, it’s possible to say that it kicked into a higher gear in 2002.

"If the crisis is primarily about children, about victims, then the crisis began in the 1980s and earlier."

In this months Nuke York magazine

"Partisan tribalism, with its tolerance of behavior that would elicit howls of outrage if the other side were doing it, is one of the most dispiriting aspects of modern politics. I have a hunch liberals will hate the executive orders of a President Romney, and I’m pretty sure Frank Rich would not have even considered writing this piece in 2004 on behalf of the Swift Boaters." --Scott Galupo

The priests are a movin'

Today is the effective date of new priest placements, which our Archdiocesan weekly had reported here and here.

Moves affecting St. Al's are:

"Fr. Mark Brandl, from associate pastor, St. Alphonsus Parish, Greendale, to administrator, St. Agnes Parish, Butler."

and

"Fr. Aaron Esch, from associate pastor, Lumen Christi Parish, Mequon, to associate pastor, St. Alphonsus Parish, Greendale."

We'll see if the combination of the added responsibilities of pastor but at a smaller parish leave time for Father Brandl to resume blogging. Here's his ordination profile article, and Father Esch's.

Around the neighborhood, I noted one move,

"Fr. Michael Merkt, from administrator, St. Mary Parish, Menomonee Falls, to administrator, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Greenfield."

and

"Fr. Daniel Volkert, from pastor, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Greenfield, to shared pastor, St. John the Baptist Parish, Plymouth, and St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Elkhart Lake."

The St. John the Baptist Parish website notes Father Volkert's No Spin Homilies.

The Spirit is a Groovin'

Our pastor is on record as looking forward to Vatican III.

And here they are!

"There's Always Something"

"At the height of his fame, the poet, Rainer Marie Rilke, received a letter from a young man, complaining that he wanted to be a poet but was handicapped because he lived in a small town where nothing exciting or noteworthy ever happened. Rilke wrote back to him and telling him that if his life seemed poor to him than he probably wasn't a poet after all because he couldn't pick up the riches of his own life." Ron Rolheiser, OMI, "There's Always Something"

(via Milwaukee Catholic Herald)

Bookshelf, no pedestal

They [Douay-Rheims Onlyists] argue that the Vulgate is superior on four grounds: (1) It is the official Bible of the Catholic Church, (2) it has been declared free of moral or theological error, (3) Jerome had access to manuscripts that we do not have today, and (4) he was a stupendous translator. --James Akin,, Uncomfortable Facts About The Douay-Rheims

US Bishops Call for Prayer: “A Fortnight for Freedom”

At Adoremus,

"Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty, the 12-page document released by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty and approved by the Administrative Committee, also calls for “a fortnight for freedom” from June 21, the vigil of the feasts of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More, to the 4th of July."

"'“This special period of prayer, study, catechesis and public action would emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty,' the statement said."

The other inevitable

You know it's coming, so here's a 2013 Federal Income Tax Update by James N. Phillips and Timothy C. Smith.

ePiscopate

The "exclusive, closed social network open only to American bishops" needs a name.

How about "app-less bench"?

(via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

O'Dog bites McMan

From our suburban weekly's police blotter,

"Four Franklin men, ages 43, 25, 22 and 21, and a 66-year-old Caledonia man were arrested for battery after a fight at Mulligan's Irish Pub & Grille ... about 1 a.m. June 1."

You are a priest forever, an unpriest for ten or twenty grand

Our Archbishops Chief of Staff responded to criticism of payments to encourage priests who had sexually abused children to seek laicization, our Archdiocesan weekly reports.

SNAP calls these "payoffs". Mr. Topczewki cites Cardinal Dolan as calling them "charity". The latter might be more plausible if Mr. Topczewki had not already gone to such lengths to say our Archdiocese's motive was financial. Here on the secular side the word "buyouts" would be applied.

I have gotten the impression that part of SNAP's strategy is to make Church leaders and spokesmen sound rattled and defensive, desparately spinning at length as if they never had or else cannot keep a firm grasp of their objectives. Is laicizing a priest pretty much like firing any other employee, or is it utterly different because of the nature of the priesthood?* I assume circumstances put Mr. Topczewki in the unfortunate position that he seems to say both at different points in the article.


*Judy Block-Jones of SNAP posted a comment to the article saying "These child predators should have been fired, without pay... ."

At least the Bourbons forgot nothing

Our Archdiocese can't manage to remember its own party line on handling allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy, judging by today's newspaper account of its Vicar General's explanation to a local parish of why its pastor was placed on administrative leave.

Our Archdiocese's Clergy Sexual Abuse Policy includes,

"Each and every instance of sexual violation of those who are the most vulnerable among us is a matter of the gravest concern and calls for an organized archdiocesan response so that healing may occur and the safety of the community can be assured." [bold in original]

and

"If the civil authorities cannot proceed with criminal action for any reason and the case is returned to the archdiocese, there will be a thorough investigation of allegations using an established process which includes the Diocesan Review Board and an independent investigator. In accordance with the provisions of canon 1722, the cleric will be removed from any current ministry assignment or exercise of ministry and prohibited from any public exercise of ministry while the investigation is underway."

According to the Vicar General, the process is actually meant to avoid bad press and legal liability.

"'People will say, Why now? Why not wait? he commented, after reading the [prepared] statement. 'In our society, there are policies. If an accusation comes against a policeman, a coach, a teacher, anybody, they're immediately placed on administrative leave. We have to follow the policies of our society. If we don't, we will pay for it. We will pay in the court of public opinion.'

"'You know that the victims have lawyers, and you know they're watching us. You watch television. You see the kinds of things they say about the church on the courthouse steps. You don't want that kind of antic to take place against you. So right now, we'll just have to delay Father's retirement, just put it on hold, until we can conclude this very difficult process.'"

You might recall that a clergy sexual abuse victim who raised the issue of the amount of the settlement received quoted our Archdiocese's Chancellor as replying "'It's people like you that put the archdiocese in that situation." If anytime Chancery staff is without a script there's a risk they'll blame the victims, that's indicates a problem that's only emphasized by their attempts at media spin.

Our Babel of Bibles, Part One

"The editors of the 21st Century King James Bible claim in their introduction that 'only in the late twentieth century does one find the use of secular English in Bible translations.' They may be pretty much right on this point, for intentionally or not, the reduction of inherently spiritual or sacral language to its material affect is now in fact widespread in modern translations of Holy Scripture. From there it infects liturgy, preaching, and catechesis more readily." --David Lyle Jeffrey, Our Babel of Bibles: Scripture, Translation, and the Possibility of Spiritual Understanding, Part One, Adoremus Bulletin, May 2012

His crosshairs to bear

"According to press reports, aides claim the president is a student of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas who brings their views to targeting choices. This is scarcely believable.

"But even taking the claim at face value, just-war theory should broaden, rather than limit, the use of force against terrorists. The work of the Catholic theologians drew upon traditions stretching back to the ancient world that would have considered terrorists to be hostis humani generis, the enemy of all mankind, who merited virtually no protections under the laws of war."

--John You, Obama, Drones and Thomas Aquinas

Excuse me, your Honor, while I kiss the sky

"U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley called the [legal] fees 'astronomical' at a hearing this week" in our Archdiocese's Chapter 11, today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The meters are still running, and here's a breakdown of the current readings.

"As of Friday, fees and ex penses approved for four firms representing the archdiocese total nearly $2.2 million, according to court records. More than $1.5 million has been approved for three firms representing creditors.

"Fees in a related lawsuit over $55 million transferred by the archdiocese into a cemetery trust have topped $1 million, according to court records. Creditors are seeking permission to file a similar lawsuit over $35 million in parish funds. In addition, both sides are pursuing appeals on rulings by Kelley, and the archdiocese has filed a new round of objections in an effort to throw out sex abuse claims.

"The nearly $4 million does not include fees for other professionals such as forensic accountants or auditors who provide additional information for the attorneys."

I have imagined our Chancery staff lives in a bunker, but it turns out it might be true, and they've never seen the night sky.

"Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said he had no frame of reference to respond to the judge's assertion that the fees are astronomical... ."

If he's speaking figuratively, reporter Annysa Johnson provides a frame of reference.

"Catholic Church bankruptcies have proved expensive in other dioceses. In Portland, Ore., for example, lawyers submitted a final bill of $18.8 million; and in Spokane, Wash., $8.3 million, according to news accounts."

Seems like information that might have been discoverable when the decision to file for bankruptcy was under consideration.

As of July 4, 2012, the case will have been pending one and one-half years. The article indicates some kind of negotiations in progress.

P.S. From the archives: CFO answers VOTF questions, May 29, 2006

Ornament

"For me to travel with Russ Feingold and to talk about honesty and integrity makes me feel like I'm traveling with the Pope... ." --Tom Barrett

Veiled Meaning

Veiled Meaning: Tolerance and Prohibition of the Hijab in the U.S. and France, by Elizabeth K. Dorminey, Engage, March 2012

Ament's pension and Walker's recall

Bruce Murphy explains Why the voters rejected the Walker recall.

He's it

Badger Catholic has a tag for posts involving our pastor at St. Al's.

Fifty-one per cent for $50 million

Our suburban weekly reports that tonight the School Board to talk Franklin High School, Forest Park Middle facility plans based on results of its recent survey.

"Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they likely would support a referendum to update and expand Franklin High School and Forest Park Middle School this fall. Fifty-one percent said they would be willing to pay another $83 per year in taxes to make that happen."

That doesn't seem like strong support, but it is higher than two years ago.

Historian of hyperbole

"Walker obviously has no patience with the traditional view of politics as a balancing of interests, a messy but necessary massaging of differences. For him and his tea party comrades, it's total war until we reach a state of, well, totalitarianism." --John Gurda

P.S. [6/7/12] Democracy wins in Wisconsin, by Charles Lane, in The Washington Post

"Now that Scott Walker has decisively won Wisconsin’s recall election, I wonder if we’ll be hearing any expressions of remorse for the smears, false rumors and general vilification that his opponents have hurled at him over the last year and a half.

...

"This rhetoric wasn’t just hyperbolic. It was strategically suicidal. The unions and their various apologists whipped progressive Wisconsin into such a frenzy — falsely claiming, for example, that Walker was about to unleash the National Guard — that the anti-Walker forces could no longer perceive political reality."

(via Althouse)

Grin, and Barrett

The Can't Recall Walker cocktail

Ingredients:
2 oz. Walker Blue Label (or other Walker)
2 oz. Absinthe
2 oz. Everclear
2 12 oz. Capital 1900 (or other Wisconsin beer)

Instructions: "Mix together, pour into shot glasses and shoot whenever you don't want to remember the rest of your night. ..."


But responsibly!

St. Alphonsus 'angels' turn out in force for ill students

This morning's paper reports from our parish school.

"In the middle of it all, with the aid of a bullhorn, Principal Pat Wadzinski began to marshal everyone for the school's first-ever Guardian Angel Walk, an idea someone came up with to raise money for parish families, such as the Marcotts and the Schuellers, who are financially stressed because of a child's illness."

Wallflower

From our suburban weekly's police blotter,

"A resident ... reported the theft of $300 by a woman he invited into his residence ... . The resident told police he paid $300 to a woman he met at a local gentlemen's club to dance for him at his home, and when she went outside to have a cigarette she left without dancing for him."

Persecution and the Art of Music

Persecution and the Art of Music, by Robert R. Reilly, review of Music for Silenced Voices: Shostakovich and His Fifteen Quartets, by Wendy Lesser

What they're reading

What We’re Reading (Summer 2012), from contributors to The University Bookman

The Power of Smells and Bells

The Power of Smells and Bells: Can Liturgy Evangelize?, by Joanna Bogle

Short answer, yes, but,

"I know of converts whose first experiences of a Catholic Mass were of a very trite, ordinary parish Sunday gathering with indifferent music and silly hymns. But they were hugely impressed by things that had not particularly struck me: people saying the Creed aloud together, teenagers in denim jeans, the mix of ages and races and social backgrounds, the sheer numbers attending."

On the other other hand, empty seats and aging demographics in a big suburban parish can be demoralizing.

(via Adoremus Bulletin)

Zero point two

Peter Keepnews reviews Fat, Drunk and Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of 'Animal House', by Marty Simmons.