WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

I doubt not then but innocence shall make false accusation blush, and tyranny tremble at patience.

Bishop Lopes: "We're being buffeted about by a blog and media culture that never bothers to read the details."

-
The headline at The Catholic Herald reads:

Bishop Lopes: I don’t believe bishops who plead ignorance of McCarrick


And, in addition to commenting on the current turmoil surrounding McCarrick, Bishop Lopes clarifies a matter that has also caused Catholics' guts to get tied, unnecessarily, in a knot.

[CH] Bishop Lopes also said there was a sense of “chaos and confusion” over the Pope’s change to the Catechism entry on the death penalty, and that his priests had communicated the refrain, “Not this again. Didn’t we just live through this in Anglicanism? Now we’re going to find it in Catholicism?”

[transcribed from video: 10:10 to 10:43] Because what's happening? We're being buffeted about by a blog and media culture that never bothers to read the details. And so, we have trumpeting headlines that (say) 'The Pope has changed the faith of the Church'. He has done no such thing. No such thing! If you read the modification of the Catechism, carefully, it does not address what we believe about capital punishment. 

[CH] But the bishop said this sense of alarm was mistaken, as the media had misrepresented the Pope’s change. “The Pope does not say, for example, ‘Capital punishment is an intrinsic moral evil.’ Had he said that, we’d have a problem.” The Pope’s remarks were about capital punishment under modern social conditions, Bishop Lopes said, rather than about what Catholics are obliged to believe.

Comments

Post a Comment

Your comments will be appreciated and posted if 1) they are on topic and 2) preserve decorum.

Stand by your word.

Popular Posts

It's Here! The Saint Peter Gradual: The Chants of the Mass for Sundays, Solemnities, and Feasts.

-
Image
Click on Images to Enlarge Our pastor, the Very Reverend Fr. Carl Reid, returned from the recent clergy gathering in Houston, Texas, and revealed the brand new Ordinariate Gradual. That is, the  Saint Peter Gradual: The Chants of the Mass for Sundays, Solemnities, and Feasts. Apparently, the seventy or more copies of the initial run were snapped up immediately. One can easily imagine that  The Gradual will become an important addition to the Ordinariate liturgical experience. It communicates a vital aspect of the Patrimony. Diocesan English-speaking Catholics may wish to enhance their (Ordinary Form) Masses by making the Proper chants ( Introit, Gradual Psalm, Offertory and Communion ) of The Gradual a central part of their liturgies. Choir directors would do well to include those chants in every Mass since they do define the distinct character of each Mass. Please see the image above to purchase copies: fstravinskas@hotmail.com. The Gradual employs moder...
Read more

Angelic Thrones: The Many-eyed Ones

-
Image
Thrones, also known as Ophanim (Hebrew: אוֹפַנִּים ʼōp̄annīm), meaning “wheels,” are described in Ezekiel’s vision of the merkabah (chariot) in Ezekiel 1:15–21. These wheels are connected to Daniel 7:9, where they are called galgal , often described as “the wheels of galgallin ” in a “fiery flame” and “burning fire.” They are shown as four eye-covered wheels, each formed from two nested wheels, moving together with the winged Cherubim beneath God’s throne. The wheels move in harmony with the Cherubim. The Celestial Hierarchy of Dionysius refers to the Thrones from the Old Testament description as the Third Order of the First Sphere, the other two superior orders being the First Order, the Seraphim, and the Second Order, the Cherubim. CHAPTER VII Of the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones, and their first Hierarchy The name of the most glorious and exalted Thrones denotes that which is exempt from and untainted by any base and earthly thing, and the supermundane ascent up the steep. Fo...
Read more

Obedience In Catholic Terms

-
Image
The Church recently celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday. How many were paying attention to Christ's teaching? Addressing the Jewish teachers, Jesus told aspiring leaders, or shepherds, that they had forfeited their position. John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Those are some sobering words for clergy. Obedience in Catholic teaching is not merely “doing what you’re told.” It is a faithful, loving alignment of your will with God’s will, expressed concretely through lawful authority, especially in the forms God has establi...
Read more

Sharing The Beauty Of Evensong In The Catholic Church

-
Image
DURANDUS | NLM Evensong is a liturgy of the Daily Office where psalms and other biblical passages are sung or said, usually close to sunset. The Latin word vesperas was rendered as aefensang  by Old English speakers, and this became "evensong" in modern English. https://singtheoffice.com/  | Music companion for chanting the Office. Variable audio support available. A very useful site! Structure The office of Vespers normally includes psalms, the Magnificat , a hymn, and other prayers. By the Early Middle Ages, it became common for secular clergy to combine Vespers and Compline . By the sixteenth century, worshippers in western Europe conceived 'evensong' as Vespers and Compline performed without break. Modern Byzantine services advertised as 'vespers' often similarly conclude with Compline . Background The Anglican archbishop Thomas Cranmer created choral evensong as a component of the Book of Common Prayer (1549) during the Edwardian Reformation, drawing on t...
Read more

25 New Incense Blends For Catholic Parishes

-
Image
AI generated image. Can there be such a thing as too much incense? Some blends might catch on. Yes? No? Maybe? The James Martin Blend ... produces a rainbow coloured cloud that induces a bacchanalian fervour in Mass-attendees. The JM Blend tends to exacerbate a misplaced sense of entitlement. The Bergoglio Blend ... is competition for The James Martin Blend, with additional negative ecumenical side-effects. The Müller Blend ... is a traditional blend known for an ability to inspire clear thinking and to expose heterodoxy. The Big Pulpit Blend ... reaches those thirsty for truth, goodness and beauty. The SSPX Blend ... is an engaging array of scents with an angry finish. The Anglicanorum Coetibus Ordinariate Blend ... is heaven on earth! The Biden Blend ... is known to induce confusion, chaos and scandal, even in small amounts. The Pelosi Blend ... is the blend of choice for Democrat funerals that tends to attract an unwanted rodent commonly associated with the bubonic plague. The Atha...
Read more

June Consistory Of Cardinals: Pope Leo And The Kerygma-centred Mission

-
Image
Baptism of the Eunuch by Rembrandt Recently we've read that Pope Leo intends a kerygma-centred mission to be the focus of the upcoming June consistory of cardinals. Mary Rose at Zeale website reports that Pope Leo XIV has formally summoned the world’s cardinals to a June 26–27 consistory in a letter urging a renewed focus on the Church’s core proclamation of the risen Christ rather than institutional preservation. Pope Saint John Paul II describes the kerygma as “the initial, ardent proclamation, by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith ( Catechesi Tradendae )." FOUR ASPECTS OF THE KERYGMA THE SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST Kerygma is a Greek word meaning proclamation and refers to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. God loves you and has a purpose for your life. God created us for a relationship with Him (St John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:1), to share a most profound communion of love. Our relatio...
Read more

SAINT MATTHEW 27:3-4

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.”

1 THESSALONIANS 5:2

For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

2 TIMOTHY 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

POPE LEO XIV Magnifica Humanitas

Even in the darkest nights, the Lord raises up men and women who refuse to give up, who persevere in doing good, who protect the vulnerable and open pathways to reconciliation. The memory of the saints, righteous people and the oft-forgotten peacemakers, show us that grace does not magically eliminate conflict, but instead it inspires active resistance to evil and an astonishing creativity in doing good” (paragraph 211).