A slow process

Father Michael McGivney’s Cause for Canonization Advances

"The Congregation for the Causes of Saints is investigating a possible miracle attributed to the intercession of the founder of the Knights of Columbus."

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Our sad times...




Vatican confirms Catholic priest was killed in Syria

The fury of the Islamist cowards...

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R.I.P. - Fr. Len Cyr

I've known Fr. Len since his ordination, and I have always considered him one of the kindest, most generous and truly caring individuals I have ever met. He was the kind of person who really wanted to know you, and when he got to know you he would do anything he could for you.

He officiated at my marriage to SWMBO and gave us his guarantee. It's still working and still in effect.

I always enjoyed spending time with him. He had a terrific sense of humour and you never knew what joke he would come out with.

In his last years he suffered a great deal. He had been sick for a while as an adult and that sickness (leukemia) resulted in suffering and hospitalization. Surgery on his throat in his last years took away one of his greatest pleasures, singing. It was always so nice to sit and chat with him, and it was always so painful to sit and chat with him - that is, to see him suffering so stoicly and with such good humour. To say I truly loved him as a friend would not be an exaggeration.

Go swiftly go God, Fr. Len, and rest in his peace, finally freed from your suffering. Requiescant in pacem. Please pray for me to our Lord and Heavenly King!

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What is it

with the hierarchy of the various groups in the Catholic Church?

Vowing change, Legion head admits he knew of US priest's transgressions

During the whole dust-up over the behaviour of their founder and leader this priest already knew about the transgressions of this other priest and did nothing of consequence about it until it became public! Has all this talk of change been for nothing? Now he starts talking change?

I'm beginning to think that the rot in the Legion has progressed quite some way down from the top, and while I at one time thought they needed time and correct direction from Rome, I'm now thinking that it's too little, too late. Perhaps the Legionary priests in good standing need to be assigned to various parishes as diocesan priests and the Legion shut down for good...

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Fr. Ron gets personal

Finding gratitude through my illness

He also includes a terrific poem by John Updike on the subject.

God bless him and keep him healthy. The world needs more intelligent, thoughtful, kind and inspiring people like him...

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R.I.P. - Fr. Jim Hanrahan

The world has lost a good, holy and very talented man.

Fr. Jim Hanrahan, a member of the Congregation of St. Basil, died last Wednesday. He was President of the College at our university that I attended and later worked for, and I always liked him. He was a talented, intelligent individual and I'm very certain that his presence will be missed.

Requiescat in Pacem, Fr. Jim. May God grant you rest after so many years in His service.

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Both the Church

and the media seem to have taken a 'guilty until proven innocent' position (or, rather, a 'guilty even after proven innocent' position) on this issue.

Falsely Accused Priest: 'My Life Has Been Ruined'

It appears that in this case the diocesan position is that if you've been accused at any time, you're guilty no matter what. So go away.

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I'm not surprised

Philippines: priest's murder involved in hydroelectric project

There are many instances in the third world where people, particularly priests and religious, who have been advocates for the rights of the poor and dispossessed, have been murdered by those who favour change that can make them wealthy. It has happened forever, and it still happens today. It seems that it is just much more obvious today...

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A story

about a very overlooked group.

A Book Every Priest Needs to Read: Catholic Priests Falsely Accused

I'm making no judgments about any particular individual or situation in this instance. All I know is that there have been a pretty high number of false accusations of abuse by priests that have been proven false, yet we don't hear much if anything about them. They should have their audience as well...

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I'm glad he fought back

Wronged Irish priest says life was horrific after accusation of rape

"
DNA test revealed he did not father teenager’s child in Africa"

Every time this sort of thing happens they should take it to court. It's too easy for both the media and individuals to fall into the 'he's been accused, so he must be guilty' mentality that believes the accuser before the accused is convicted...

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We all need to laugh...

Father James Martin’s Sublime Silliness

Really! Laughing is important to life, and so must be important to one's spiritual life. Everyone should read Anatomy of An Illness (as Perceived by the Patient) by Norman Cousins. I believe the paperback is still in print. It wasn't when I managed to find a copy, but I think it is now. I think it's a terribly important book for our society...

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But

if Fr. Pavone has "deep respect for the Church, and especially the office of the bishop" why didn't he show up for the meeting scheduled in October with the Bishop he has such "deep respect" for?

'Priests for Life needs a massive infusion of contributions...'

Is this because the Church has cut the purse strings?

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He may well be a saint already

(and he is to his supporters) but he's just not officially proclaimed by the Church.

Supporters seek sainthood for murdered priest

I never know which way to hope in cases like this, where the Vatican is more sensitive to politics than one would think a church should be, but look at Archbishop Oscar Romero. His biggest roadblock is the existence of politics in the issue. I really believe that the Vatican likes safe saints...

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Priests are people

Thoughts on Fr. Pavone

He's got a good head on his shoulders, this Mr. Shea...

(Though a bit judgmental on BSDawg perhaps, but I haven't kept up with that story at all.)

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One person

doesn't like Fr. Rohr.

Fr. Richard Rohr

While I struggle, myself, with the whole Enneagram idea, I do wish people would look at Centering Prayer in more detail (or in ANY detail) before condemning it and labeling it.

The biggest criticism about Centering Prayer is that they say it has a 'mantra' that you say over and over, which makes it like Transcendental Meditation. The truth is, it's not a mantra but what the people who teach it call a 'holy word', that you pick yourself, and it isn't repeated over and over but is only used when you find your mind being distracted or you find thoughts coming into your mind that take your mind's focus off of being open to God. You use it then to re-focus your mind and to once again agree with God to allow yourself to be open to His communicating with you. (When I say this I don't mean hearing His voice or anything, but the idea of letting God's Holy Spirit get in touch with you. Normally God has to clout us over the head to communicate with us. In this case we're actually saying 'please Father, I want to hear you'.) These are two very different things.

But don't tell anyone who believes that it is new age any different. If something was good enough for the Council of Trent, it's good enough for them. For a lot of people there hasn't been a valid new prayer form since the Rosary...

(I remember our pastor telling us one time about a situation in which he had been criticised for a 'new age' prayer. Until he showed the people where it came from in the Divine Office, mind you.)

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Ah! There it is!

'Let me do what I want or I'll leave!'

Fr. Pavone considering founding new religious order

It's a good thing (?) he'll be the head of whatever new order he founds (if the Church approves it) because I think he'll have a certain problem with that darn 'obedience' vow...

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Really,

I think the best thing is for these priests to stay out of these sorts of positions.

Father Pavone suspended from ministry outside Amarillo Diocese

That way, when there are irregularities of any kind, there isn't any kind of negative reflection on the priesthood and the Catholic Church.

These sorts of things are becoming just too common lately...

Here's another article, this one from the secular press: Bishop suspends priest; Letter cites 'potential financial scandal'.
In this article, it says:

"Priests for Life is rated a two-star charity on a four-star scale by Charity Navigator, a watchdog group based in Glen Rock, N.J. More than a third of Priests for Life’s spending covers administrative and fundraising expenses while less than two-thirds go to expenses to provide programs and services, resulting in low marks for efficiency, according to a report card posted on Charity Navigator’s website.

Several other pro-life groups score far higher."

Oops.

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This was apparently written

by a post-Vatican II bishop, so don't think he's 'pining for the fjords', sorry, don't think he's wishing for the old Rite...

Why I Didn't Go to Confession Today.

Now, anyone can pretend to be anyone else on the intertubes, but I expect if someone was pretending to be a bishop they'd be found out pretty quickly. Just sayin'. I dunno, I guess I'm just cautious...

These are the sorts of abuses that cause people to cry out for the Tridentine Rite, even though all it would take is some direction, by the local Bishops, to the priests of the diocese. I think the vernacular can end up leading to a more familiar type of presentation, which can lead to this sort of thing. It's not a conspiracy, nor is it widespread, I don't believe.

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Does this priest

not have any authority over him?

Controversial Polish priest to build spa and aquapark

This news 'article' is really just one of those 'sound-bite articles' that I really dislike so much. It tells you nothing. What's his history? What church is he a priest in? Roman? Orthodox? Protestant? This is really news for those who can't concentrate for over 20 seconds. 'News' for those with ADD, I guess...

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While enthusiasm is a good thing

caution is also something that must be considered.

Congregation for healing priest

He comes from an order of Charismatic priests, an order which believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and their active use today. He wasn't a member for that long, really, before he now leaves to start his own order so he can be free to do what he believes God wants him to do. I do hope that there's some oversight and control over him. Though this sort of behaviour frightens me a bit, my Order's founder, St. Francis, behaved in a similar manner. Still, we've seen far too many priests go off in wrong directions when left on their own...

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