I'm sorry I haven't posted all week, it's been so busy. Last weekend was symphony rehearsals for a concert on Monday, then it was Confirmation on Tuesday and a host of other things all week. This afternoon, we had a concert at my parish to commemorate the centennial. It just seems like it's very busy!

I'm also in the midst of a thousand projects, most of which should have been done already. Next weekend I'll be in Columbus, OH for diaconate ordinations so that should be fun, although it'll take away three days of work (knowing me, that's probably for the best!).

This week I'll be a good blogger, I promise.

Both Amy Welborn and Thomas at American Papist have posted on this particular piece of news, so I figure I should jump on the bandwagon.

Reuters story on possible new Vatican document:

The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, an issue highlighted by a call from a leading cardinal to ease its ban on them, a Catholic Church official said.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, declined to reveal the contents of the document in an interview published in Sunday's la Repubblica newspaper, but said Pope Benedict had asked his department to study the issue.

The former archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who was standard bearer for a moderate minority in the conclave that elected the Pope last year, called for a reform in an interview published in Italy on Friday.

The Vatican opposes condoms as a form of contraception, but several cardinals have said in recent years that using them is a lesser evil if the alternative is infection with AIDS. "This is a very difficult and delicate subject that requires prudence," said Mexican-born Barragan. "My department is studying this closely with scientists and theologians expressly assigned to draft a document that will be issued soon," he said.

It will be interesting to see what the alleged document actually says. I haven't seen any reputable Catholic news outlet reporting on this at all from the Holy See, but why would Barragan say it if something wasn't in the works?

Also, interestingly, it doesn't give us any indication of which way the Vatican will go on this. Although I'll personally submit to the Church's judgment, it will probably just reiterate the long-standing teaching that condoms cannot licitly be used even in the cases outlined in these articles, which is more than ok by me.

The pope at today's Regina Caeli:

A moving reference to John Paul II as ‘Pope of Divine Mercy’ sparked applause among the tens of thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s square for the Regina Caeli. “The mystery of God’s merciful love was at the centre of the pontificate of my venerated predecessor,” said Benedict XVI.

The Pope mentioned John Paul II’ Encyclical Dives in misericordia and his consecration of the shrine in Kraków in 2002 devoted to the Divine Mercy.

Thanks to the Polish pope the traditional Low Sunday or Dominica In Albis, the Octave Day of Easter, became the ‘Sunday of the Divine Mercy’, “making the most of the spiritual experience of a humble nun, St Faustina Kowalska”, canonised by John Paul.

Benedict XVI also mentioned that “Providence decided that he [John Paul II] should die right on the eve of that day in the arms of Divine Mercy.”

Also on today's menu are greetings to the Orthodox churches who celebrate Easter today:

At the end of the ceremony, his first greetings were in Greek and Russian to wish Happy Easter to the Orthodox Churches, which are celebrating Easter today.

“My best regards go to our brothers of the Eastern Churches which are celebrating Easter today,” Benedict XVI said.

“May the Risen Lord bring to all the gifts of His Light and Peace. Christos anesti! Christos vaskries!”

It is estimated that 45,000 people attended today's Regina Caeli.

Thomas at American Papist has made the observation that we don't yet have a nickname for Cardinal Levada as head of the CDF. Going along with the canine theme begun with his predecessor (Cardinal Ratzinger was known as "God's Rottweiler"), he proposes "God's Golden Retriever" for two reasons: gold represents San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge) and retriever because he was brought to Rome to basically do the bidding of the current pontiff.

I think it's pretty clever!

Click here for the whole post (scroll down to the bottom)

His comment boxes feature two other alternative ideas (so far): the Levadanator and Levada Anathemator. Cool!

My, how he's grown... The Cardinal initiated an interview with the Globe yesterday on their home turf (The Globe mentions that a cardinal hasn't stepped foot into their offices since 1997, though I'm not exactly sure why that's significant... the first pope to visit a synagogue is news... a cardinal visiting the Globe newsroom, oh who cares?).

It looks like a great interview. They have some very nice pictures to go along with the story. The cardinal also travelled with an entourage of nine! Despite the disciples doing his bidding, he is still the same old Sean in the interview.

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, reflecting on his contentious tenure as archbishop of Boston, said yesterday that Greater Boston is an unusually difficult place to be a Catholic bishop, but that the area is also a rich testing ground for the church as it attempts to convince a secular culture of its religious values.
...
''It is challenging to teach in this environment, but this is a very important environment for the church to be involved in teaching in. Here we have so many intellectual centers, this is the Athens of the West, and they say that St. Paul's most eloquent sermon was given in Athens and it's the one that had the least impact," he said, chuckling.

''I think certainly this is a great challenge for us as Catholics in an atmosphere where our doctrines are being challenged and questioned, but I think that makes us stronger in responding to those kinds of challenges."

The conversation, which was initiated by the archdiocese in an effort to improve communications with the general public through the news media, marked the first time a Catholic archbishop has visited the Globe since 1997. O'Malley said he saw such outreach as part of his job as archbishop of Boston, a post he has held since the summer of 2003.

Just the story from the paper
The whole transcript

Archbishop Chaput of Denver makes some interesting points in this piece from First Things regarding the statute of limitations for sex abuse claims.

Statutes of limitations exist for good reasons: to protect justice, not prevent it. They were created to encourage a timely and fair resolution of claims, which is why law-enforcement officials support them. Over time, memories fade, witnesses die, evidence grows stale, and fraudulent claims increase. But state laws involve two different kinds of statutes of limitations: criminal and civil. Criminal statutes cannot be amended and then applied to past actions, since the United States Constitution expressly forbids retroactive criminal laws, known as ex post facto law. But some lower courts have ruled that civil statutes can be extended into the past. Civil lawsuits have a much lower threshold for proof than criminal cases. As a result, retroactive civil liability puts a huge defense burden on any accused individual or institution. In fact, just the possible cost of a legal defense can force a diocese into settlement talks. This serves plaintiffs’ attorneys and the persons they represent quite well. Whether it really serves justice is another matter.

Ok this is sad.

Holy Family Catholic Parish Community in Inverness is marking its own rebirth this weekend, opening a $1.4 million renovated sanctuary to its 12,000 parishioners that embraces many elements of the Protestant evangelical movement.

The changes might seem unusual to old-school Catholics. They have raised eyebrows among more orthodox leaders in the archdiocese. But the pastor and parishioners say they are carving the model for the future American Catholic Church.
...
The secret to the 22-year-old church's success has been replicating what growing churches are doing, but in a Catholic way. The result is an innovative congregation that bills itself as "an evangelical church in the Roman Catholic tradition."

"I think what happened to the Catholic Church is we became a little comfortable with ourselves and forgot some of what made us Catholic. We forgot what made us passionate," said Holy Family's pastor, Rev. Pat Brennan. "So I've just taken the best that I've seen of Catholic parishes and evangelical churches and put them together to make Holy Family. In doing that, I think we've rediscovered the heart of Catholicism."
...
Holy Family was started two decades ago when Cardinal Joseph Bernardin became concerned about the large numbers of Catholics in the northern suburbs leaving their churches to become members of Willow Creek Community Church. In 1984, the former archbishop purchased 16 acres of farmland in Inverness and founded a new parish community, Holy Family.
...
Even before the renovation, Holy Family stood apart from other Catholic churches and was designed to blend evangelical style with Catholic worship. From outside, the church is a stone and glass structure, striking in its simplicity.

Inside, there are no stained glass windows, no candles, no statues of saints. The dominant feature is an enormous 16-foot acrylic cross that hangs from the ceiling over the altar with Jesus gazing downward, his hand outstretched to people.
...
But tensions have risen with the current archbishop, Cardinal Francis George, who supports a more orthodox view of the liturgy than his predecessor. Parishioners say the most recent example of that tension is the dispute over kneelers.

In the church's original design, Holy Family never had kneelers, partly to replicate evangelical churches but also to provide more room between pews. But when the church presented renovation plans to the archdiocese last year, parishioners learned the plans would not be approved unless the church installed kneelers.

"I'm disappointed," said Rosemary Geisler. "That was a decision that should have been left up to the people, and instead it was forced on us."

The minor dispute has led some parishioners to worry about the type of priest who will be selected as pastor of Holy Name after Brennan's term ends in two years. Dolores Siok, who has been at Holy Family for 17 years, worries about what will happen if the new priest wants to take the church back to Catholic orthodoxy.

"Everyone is concerned about the possibility that we get a staunch pastor who wants to take us backward. We're just praying we get someone who shares our vision," she said. "Or else we'll just be back where we started with people leaving the church."

These people are never quoted talking about Jesus. It seems they're more concerned with pleasing people and staying "relevant" rather than pleasing God. When all the crap they installed falls out of popular use and new fads develop, will they just keep changing? Says little about stability. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but the way these people want it, the Church will be different everyday. Jesus isn't boring, people! Why do we feel the need to continually give him make-overs? If the Paschal Mystery doesn't win them over, some fancy music and podcasts certainly aren't going to do it! It seems you're just inviting and encouraging a shallow faith based on externals. If you take all their evangelical gadgets away, is Christ still there?

Their parish website is interesting. Looks like some good stuff going on, but any church that prides itself on being an "evangelical church in the Catholic tradition" is a little shady to me. No wonder Cardinal George is keeping an eye on the place.

Of course, this post is written by someone who's never visited the place, so take it with a grain of salt.

The Washington Post has some quotes on Pope Benedict's first year. Of course, there are six quotes, only two from "favorable" sources: Cardinals Bertone and Ruini. The other four are Fr. Curran, Hans Kung, the head of We Are Church, and Catholics for a Free Choice (no one person was attributed, just the organization).

At least they were truthful about the status of Curran and Kung.

Remind me again of why we care what these people think? (The irony that I too am posting on it after asking that rhetorical question does not escape me).

Ironic Catholic has a great parody on a lawsuit by a neophyte because of the frigid baptismal water at the Easter Vigil. Priceless!

A round-up of articles from the mainstream media on Pope Benedict's first year is available here.

It's hard to believe it's been a year. I think Pope Benedict is a fine shepherd: the right man for the right time. He's still healthy and vibrant at his age and I have a feeling he'll be around for many years to come. I have come to really see him in the Chair now, which I have to say, was difficult when he was first elected (only because JPII was the only pope I had ever known).

May God grant him many years!

After a wonderful day in Fall River yesterday, Cardinal Sean went back to Boston for a news conference this morning on his financial plans for the Archdiocese, the "full financial transparency" he had promised.

At the news conference, O'Malley released audited financial statements for the last two church fiscal years, covering a period from July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2005, as well as a report assessing the church's overall financial condition, which O'Malley has claimed is poor.

O'Malley also released a detailed explanation of how much the church has spent throughout history on costs related to sexual abuse by clergy, and where that money came from.

And O'Malley released an explanation of the church's complex financial structure, as well as audited financial statements about many of the organizations controlled by or associated with the archdiocese.

Paulson's full round-up is here. I think this will go a long way for those who think the Archdiocese is more concerned about money than souls (which at times it may have more than appeared to be).

Cardinal O'Malley came back to Fall River for a Mass of Thanksgiving to which I'm very lucky to have been able to attend.

He received a very warm welcome from a packed cathedral and it sounded like he got a little choked up. His homily was typical O'Malley-length, replete with his inimitable style and wit (in his very imitable voice!). He made cracks about the resumes of Mary Magdalene and Saint Peter and even mentioned the DaVinci Code ("a Hollywood makeover for Mary Magdalene, making her into Mrs. Jesus" or something to that effect). He really drove home the point that this really is "the season" and it should be celebrated with enormous joy by all who believe in Christ's resurrection. Hopefully the homily will be published in The Anchor!

Bishop Coleman's remarks were brief and heartfelt and the music was fairly simple but well done. Overall it was well-organized and well-executed, with masterful serving by the diocesan seminarians (plus one ;) ). The Cardinal did a great job trying to deflect some of the attention from himself onto Christ.

What a remarkable afternoon and a great blessing for out diocese. I'll admit to a bit of emotion myself seeing him up on the cathedra in his pallium and reds!!

So I watched it last night and don't plan to watch anymore. I thought it was dumb. I can't imagine it inspiring anyone at all. Surfing the web today there are lots of people who liked it. To me the only positive is that it doesn't exactly make fun of the Church. However, some of the segments were so outlandish (carrying an 80-pound cross for 20 miles and an overbearing priest who may or may not have really been overbearing, depending on how creative the editing was).

I didn't think the journeys were very authentic at all. They're just thinking about going to seminary. I can tell you personally that going to seminary does not guarantee ordination to priesthood by any stretch of the imagination. They act as though deciding to go to seminary is a lifelong promise of celibacy! If I were a vocation director, I would not be impressed by a "candidate" with such an unhealthy attitude (a "done deal" attitude so to speak).

In the end, I think the UVA grad will end up ordained and I frankly pray the other three (in their present reality TV form at least) don't.

What are bloggers saying about God or the Girl? (Just a sample of what I could find):

Mark Mossa, SJ:

[L]et me say that one of the things I liked about it, is something that others seemed to have a problem with: These guys just don't quite seem to get it.

The truth is, I see this as a good thing. Why? Because it says to young men who are thinking about being priests that you don't quite have to have everything figured out before you try it out. Joe, who is a former Jesuit novice, is a good example. He's already tried it, and he seems the least interested in being a priest of the four! [source]

Joey G. has a rather lengthy treatment:

Over at Amy Welborn's there's quite a discussion taking place about the show. The comment boxes reveal homophobia run rampant and hasty judgements on nearly every front, though a few level-headed people have sounded off. What's amusing to me is that people are falling into the number one trap of "reality TV" - thinking it's reality. The fact is, we're seeing a chewed up and digested, edited copy of the real proceedings. Speculations about whether Mike's priest is presumptuous or "out to get him" are absurd. They're a stretch from what we have seen; and, given that A&E owns the cutting room, we can probably infer that what we haven't seen would provide substantial balance. [source]

Fr. David Nuss, vocation director for the Diocese of Toledo, didn't have anything nice to say about it in the National Review:

Having viewed four of the five episodes — mostly as an act of Lenten penance — the only surprise was the absence of toll-free numbers to call and vote one of the men off the cast. Certainly the show is a thing of miniscule importance — no doubt it would take something uncommonly malicious to impress the sort of person likely to be watching, and God or the Girl rises to no such heights.

I preordered my copy and have been reading different parts of it since I received it. It seems like it has the possibility to revolutionize catechesis since it's so simple, whereas the actual Catechism can be rather daunting for someone just getting started. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so:

The English-language Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church has become an instant best-seller, with 50,000 paperback copies sold within the first 10 days after publication.

Officials at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have revealed that the first print run of the paperback edition was almost immediately sold out. The USCCB now estimates overall sales for the first year of publication at well over 100,000. At the April 7 opening of the annual Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles, 1,500 copies of the Compendium were sold immediately, with Cardinal Roger Mahony saying that all high-school teachers and students should have the book. [source]

The funniest thing about the Compendium is that the introduction of the book is written by Cardinal Ratzinger who was asked to lead this effort by JPII. The Motu Proprio ordering the publication of the Compendium was, of course, signed by Pope Benedict!

The only sad thing is the lack of press this book has received. Not to mention that the Vatican website has yet to publish the English translation (although one could argue that they have been busy with all the Holy Week stuff!).

From Zenit today:

Among the thousands of messages Benedict XVI received on his 79th birthday, one stood out.

Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the Pope's older brother, who for 40 years was director of the choir of Regensburg Cathedral, sent a message from Bavaria to express what he has always said on this occasion: "Oremus por invicem" (Let us pray for one another).

The Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire published a written message Monsignor Ratzinger sent to his brother.

"Dear Joseph, may your onerous theological work of so many years be of guidance and help to carry out the grandiose task that God has entrusted to you," said Monsignor Ratzinger.

"May the Lord give you spiritual and intellectual inspiration, as well as physical strength, to be able to make just decisions and find appropriate words, and maintain the courage and firmness in the face of the waves, which according to the secret divine will, surround the Church and, with her, you also," he added.

"May God give us, in these last years of life toward which we are heading, a minimum of fraternal communion with the joy and warmth of before," he said.

The message is signed: "Your brother Georg."

Who is this woman?

Italian author Melissa Panarello, who hit best-selling lists across the world with graphic stories of teenage sex, published a new book on Friday in which she said the Roman Catholic Church's code of morality was all wrong.

After "100 Strokes Of The Brush Before Bed", in which she described losing her virginity at 14, Melissa P. -- as she is known -- brought out her latest book on Good Friday, a major day in the Christian calendar marking the crucifixion of Jesus.

"In The Name Of Love", a treatise against the Church's preaching on sex, was written by the petite 20-year-old Sicilian in the form of an open letter to Italy's most senior cardinal, Camillo Ruini, defending abortion, divorce and homosexuality.

"This book was born of rage, a rage that was born about a year ago when the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI accentuated a religious fundamentalism which I thought only exited in the history books," she said.

[full story]

A heartfelt column by Bishop Vasa (Portland, Oregon). I don't know him, but he seems like a kind shepherd:

It is not at all surprising when the teaching on the Real Presence is clear and when expectations are likewise clear, that our young people respond better than even they think they can.

[article]

"Let the people of the third millennium not be afraid to open their hearts to him. His Gospel totally quenches the thirst for peace and happiness that is found in every human heart. Christ is now alive and he walks with us. What an immense mystery of love! Christus resurrexit, quia Deus caritas est! Alleluia!"

- Pope Benedict's Urbi et Orbi Blessing

Well, the posting was necessarily light last week, but should be in high volume this coming week. I have a lot of stuff sorta waiting in the wings and much to catch up on. Plus I'm on vacation this week so watch out.

Holy Week was very prayerful and meaningful. I spent it at three very different parishes. To the glory of the Risen Christ, my rendition of the Exsultet was wonderful. So now it's Easter: a day to relax. I will see my grandfather this afternoon, but that's about it. I'll stop in at the parish and do a bit more cleaning, but for the most part, I've just been taking it easy.


A couple of quick links for those interested in Father Neuhaus' ideas about Pope Benedict's first year and John Allen's take from the perpective of the title "Patriarch of the West."

Father Neuhaus' interview
John Allen's Op-ed

Happy Easter to all and a Happy Birthday to Pope Benedict!

This story from the Globe personifies what we commemorate today.

On a summer night in 2003, Anthony Warren of Hyde Park fired three gunshots into the air outside a three-decker in Dorchester to scare two women who lived on the first floor after an argument. One bullet severed the spine of Kai, then 3, who was sitting outside on her family's third-story porch with a sister, singing ''Down by the Bay" from the ''Barney" television show.

Yesterday, in emotionally wrenching victim-impact statements that left many spectators in tears, Kai and four members of her family told a Suffolk Superior Court judge that the shooting had changed their lives forever, but had also shown them the value of forgiveness.

''We're not victims here; we're victors," said Kai's mother, Tonya David, addressing the court.

''What you done to me was wrong," the dimpled girl with purple and yellow plastic ties in her braids said softly. ''But I still forgive him."

[full story]

The Holy Week busyness seems to have begun. A few items of note this morning:

• Following his second meeting with Curial heads this week, Pope Benedict XVI has named new members to the Ecclesia Dei commission this morning: Cardinals Levada, Llovera (Toledo), and Ricard (Bordeaux). This is significant because the only rumor to come out of the meeting is that the Holy Father would soon be publishing a Motu Proprio allowing what some have called the "universal indult" for priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of the meeting.
  
• One new item (as far as I can tell it's new) on the Vatican site this morning: Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I haven't had too much time to go through it, but it's nice looking. Also, a link to the Via Crucis from past years has been added to the home page. Still no sign of the Holy Thursday letter or an English translation of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations message.
• Remember that tomorrow is also the 21st World Youth Day. John Paul II, pray for us!
• In the news, the Globe today has a story about the Archdiocese's internal audit regarding compliance with child protection policies. There's also one about people's reactions to the "Gospel of Judas."

As for me, I'll be at the parish for a while then I'm going to a wedding (seems almost wrong to have a wedding on Passion Sunday eve). I have my usual Saturday vigil job, then I'm off to the reception for the evening, then a quick stop by the parish. I can't imagine I'll be able to blog again today, but who knows.

Big controversy in the Diocese these days over a man losing his job as a social studies teacher and as a football coach at Bishop Feehan High School. His girlfriend just gave birth to his child and he was terminated for violating the morality clause in his contract.

He was also refused marriage in the Church because his pastor felt he was getting married for the wrong reasons. He actually agreed with him on that one. But he and his family are making noise about his losing the job.

The Boston Herald had an article the other day and Dr. Peters over at his blog carefully parses it out for us. A more careful article that mentions his contract can be found here.

While browsing the Feehan site, I noticed that there's a liturgy scheduled for Holy Thursday morning. Hopefully that's not a Mass!

Father Pilon from the Mount writes a fine article for Homiletic and Pastoral Review on the necessity of leaving pastors (and bishops) in the same place and not constantly transferring them unless there's a genuine pastoral need ("for the good of souls"). One reason is to avoid careerism, but another is to provide the stability called for by the Council and in the Code. Although I don't know how this can be translated into a practical system, the ideal is very well-articulated.

I 100% agree that if a pastor is a spiritual father, then it makes no sense to move him around. However, what if you have a really rotten pastor? It's a terrible thing to say and no priest could possibly please every parishioner, but there are some that just plain don't get it. So people in this situation would just have to wait out the next 30-35 years? Or else they'd have to move. Tough call.

I love the way Father Pilon talks about the reason for the existence of parishes and how the pastor is not just an extension of the bishop, but really stands in the place of Christ at the head of the community.

The article is posted for the public on their website here. This is part of the conclusion to whet your appetite:

Today, in some dioceses, the regular transfer of pastors after relatively brief terms has become self-justifying; the transfer itself is seen as being for the greater good of the diocese and no further justification is required by the bishop to move his pastors in the same way bishops have moved their associates all along. Not only does this destabilize the pastoral leadership of the parish, but its effect is to transfer the pastoral role at least partially to the lay leadership who provide the only real continuity and stability in the life of the parish.

Above all, however, this policy of regularly transferring priests after a very limited term destabilizes the spiritual life of the faithful in these parishes and makes the laity hesitant to really engage in any serious spiritual relationship with transient pastors. That is the ultimate harm and, since the Church itself exists for the spiritual welfare of her children, there is need for a reconsideration of such policies.

Thomas over at American Papist has a comprehensive list of blog entries (with highlights from several) regarding this gospel of Judas. When I first read about it, I thought, "OK another Gnostic text to add to the mix." Some people, of course, are just out to discount to authenticity of the true faith. I'm not going to run out to buy my copy, but if I get a chance to read it, I'll read it like any other Gnostic text. Many members of St. Blog's Parish are taking it as the expected trash that will be published leading up to the release of the DaVinci Code movie. I'm thinking of talking to my students about it actually.

By the way, in my humble opinion (and I've given this no thought whatsoever so it's pretty raw): if a text that claims to be a gospel doesn't contain the most significant event in all of Jesus' life and indeed the entire history of humanity and only contains paragraph after paragraph of "How Great I Art" statements, then it hardly seems worthy of our attention.

Unfortunately, now that it's out there, it can't be totally ignored.

Well, it's been a busy week and Holy Week will certainly be worse. I've read so many things I'd like to post, but since I'm tired, I figure I'll just post this and call it a night:

Listen to what the thorns say, the nails, the wounds, the divine blood. Oh, what a sermon!

- Saint Paul of the Cross

Picture of the Day!

Well, it certainly didn't take him long:

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, moving quickly to put his own team at the chancery, today named the Rev. Richard M. Erikson to replace the departing Bishop Richard G. Lennon in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's number two job.

A Watertown native, Erikson has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Southern California and taught at St. John's Seminary in Brighton before going to work for the military full-time. He has served on military bases in Alabama, California, Florida, Guam, Illinois, Michigan, and New Hampshire and in 2004 he served for three months in Iraq. His current title is staff chaplain, plans and programs, Office of the Chief of Chaplains at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington.

more...

After the announcement that Bishop Lennon would be the new Bishop of Cleveland, it would seem there are more major changes on the way according to today's Globe:

His spokesman said that O'Malley will name Lennon's replacement within days
and that in coming months the cardinal will name a new chancellor and a new
development director, two important posts at the chancery. O'Malley is also
expecting Benedict to name new auxiliary bishops to help him administer the
archdiocese.

And O'Malley has embarked on a search for a new superintendent of
Catholic schools. As the archdiocese weighs major changes in its school system,
Sister Kathleen Carr, who has been superintendent for the last six years,
announced yesterday that she plans to step down in June.

O'Malley is also preparing to announce changes to the administrative
structure of the archdiocese, which is frequently criticized as insensitive and
nonresponsive to laypeople and priests and is running an annual deficit. [full
story]

Rocco's got an interesting post over at Whispers about the pope having a cat:

[O]ne of my colleagues (the articles are unsigned) reports that "the Pope has now got a cat of his own -- a starving stray he secretly nursed back to health in his apartment."

The Tablet says that the cat was found by Msgr Georg Ganswein, Benedict's private secretary, on his way back to the Vatican from a January Mass; Ganswein smuggled the cat, "a tabby with pale green eyes they named Scherzo," in his vestments. [full post]

Rocco also mentions that the pope sneaks back to his old apartment on a regular basis to the point where there's often a police car stationed outside.

Of course, my greatest excitement of the whole thing is that the cat has a musical name: Scherzo!

Peter Vere (another canonist) responds to Dr. Peters' analysis and is clearly on the side of Bishop Bruskewitz:

Part One
Part Two - The Ten Reasons Bishop Bruskewitz gave for not participating in the John Jay Study in the first place

Ed Peters has an interesting (and comprehensive) analysis of the critique of Bishop Bruskewitz regarding the National Review Board. While he believes the bishop has some valid points, Peters also believes Bruskewitz is in violation of the law and makes his case why.

Fortunately he stays away from the argument that the bishop was unnecessarily derogatory in his comments (which, let's be honest...). That point has no bearing on particular law.

All three parts here are worth a look and are not terribly long.