Peter Meade, one of Cardinal O'Malley's top lay advisors, wrote an editorial published in the Boston Herald supporting same-sex marriage. Dr. Peters weighs in:

Boston politicos Peter & Rosanne Meade woke up one summer morning, saw the sun shining brightly, and concluded that God must have changed his mind about the travesty called "homosexual marriage". The Meades think that because the world did not come to an end when Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage, those ignorant Bible-thumpers were wrong about the consequences for societies that continually invent new ways to flout, well, just about everything.

But a pretty sunrise over Boston Harbor is not, in the slightest, a sign that God approves of what the chronically bizarre government of Massachusetts does in regard to "homosexual marriage", or anything else for that matter. Not at all.

The Meades need to read their Bible---no, not the parts about the earth opening up and swallowing sinners or raging floods wiping away the evil, as instructive as those passages might be---but rather, the places where Holy Writ reminds us that, in his wisdom, God lets the sun shine on the good and the bad alike, and that weeds will grow up alongside the wheat until, that is, the Day of Harvest, when the wheat will be gathered into barns, and the weeds torn out and burned.

But the Meades' opinion column, as bad as it is (consider here provisions such as 1983 CIC 225, 227, and 747), provokes a deeper problem for the Church in Boston: Peter Meade is co-chair of the commission advising Cdl. O'Malley about the complex and crucial issue of parish-closings in the archdiocese.

Now, if one cannot think clearly about something as simple, and as obvious, and as anciently and universally honored as the fact that marriage is a "covenant by which a man and woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life" (1983 CIC 1055), then how can he or she can be taken seriously as an advisor to ecclesiastical leaders on any topic requiring the exercise of prudent judgment?

By their own words, the Meades have proclaimed themselves unfit to hold a position of influence in any particular Church, let alone one as prominent as Boston. If he won't resign, Peter Meade should be removed from the cardinal's advisory commission.

Labels: local, moral issues

The Massachusetts Bishops have released a statement on yesterday's vote by the legislature rejecting the marriage amendment:

Ignoring the will of more than 170,000 people who signed the marriage petition and blocking the people from exercising their right to vote is tragic.

In the Commonwealth, our state laws provide for the process whereby the citizens have a right to vote on a constitutional amendment.

However, the leadership of the Democratic Party refuses to allow citizens and elected officials to vote their conscience on social issues. Their ideological positions undermine the common good.

Today, the common good has been sacrificed by the extreme individualism that subordinates what is best for children, families and society.

It is obvious from the unprecedented amount of pressure that was put upon elected officials that opponents of the amendment believed that the voters of the Commonwealth would have voted in favor of the traditional definition of marriage. The pressure tactics were engineered to insure that the will of the people would not prevail.

The question for those elected officials who opposed allowing the marriage amendment to be voted on by the people is: do we live in a country where people are free to vote their conscience or are we controlled by what is viewed as politically correct and by powerful special interest groups?

We extend our sincere appreciation to those members of the legislature who stood firm in their support to allow the people an opportunity to exercise their right to vote on the marriage amendment.

Perhaps in the future legislators will have the courage to let the people vote on an issue so important to the future of families.

Labels: local, moral issues

The former rector of Saint John's is not going quietly:

On his way out the door, the departing rector of St. John's Seminary sent a pair of blistering letters to church officials, alleging that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is endangering the future training of priests by letting theological liberals move in next door.

The Rev. John A. Farren, a conservative and occasionally controversial Dominican friar, warned in the letters last month that the "doctrinal integrity" of St. John's is at risk because of increased proximity to two Jesuit-run Catholic institutions, Boston College and Weston Jesuit School of Theology, which are expected to move into buildings currently held by the seminary.

Farren did not cite specific issues, saying only that Weston Jesuit employs "self-professed gays or lesbians" as faculty members and that several faculty members there have been questioned by the Vatican.

Labels: local

My adopted bishop got robbed! From the Republican:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield issued an appeal today to the thief or thieves who robbed Bishop Timothy M. McDonnell of a large gold cross and other personal items in a break-in this week.

McDonnell wants the items back, as they have sentimental value, according to diocesan spokesman Mark E. Dupont.

"Obviously, there's an expense involved, but it's a sentimental loss more than anything," Dupont said.

"It would bring the bishop such joy if these items could find their way back to him," Dupont said.

Police, meanwhile, continue to investigate the theft, which occurred at the bishop's Elliot Street residence sometime through the night Monday or early Tuesday morning.

Police believe the break-in may have occurred at 3 a.m. Tuesday, when the burglary alarm sounded. A search of the house at that time, however, turned up nothing missing, and McDonnell went back to sleep.

It was only on waking for the day on Tuesday that McDonnell noticed the items missing.

Taken were two watches, a ring and a pectoral cross, a type of crucifix suspended on a long chain the bishop wears during formal ceremonies. It signifies his rank in the church, and McDonnell has had it since he was ordained a priest on June 1, 1963.

Dupont said the back of the cross is inscribed with his initials and that date. He had it hung on a chain when he was ordained a bishop on Dec. 12, 2001.

"It's not just a symbol of his office, but a reminder of his ordination," Dupont said.

One of the watches was a gift from his parents, both now dead.

"These are items that could be replaced, but you could never replace the sentimental value he has for them," Dupont said.

Police Capt. Robert A. Cheetham said detectives are working on the case today.

The thief or thieves may have a difficult time selling the cross, as it is distinctive and has been widely publicized as belonging to McDonnell since the break-in.

Labels: local

From this morning's Globe:

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has invited Pope Benedict XVI to come to Boston next year, saying a visit to the city that was at the heart of the clergy abuse scandal would send a positive message to Catholics.

O'Malley said he is hopeful that the pope will accept the invitation because 2008 is both the bicentennial of the Archdiocese of Boston and because Benedict is already expected to come to the country to visit the United Nations.

"Given everything Boston has been through, having the Holy Father come, I think, would be a great joy and a sense of affirmation to us as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of our church," O'Malley, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, said in re sponse to a question from the Globe. "I've invited him, and I'm hoping that he will come to Boston."

A pope has visited Boston, the fourth largest diocese in the United States with an estimated 2 million Catholics, only once: John Paul II came to Boston in 1979, and celebrated Mass for more than 400,000 rain-soaked people on Boston Common.

The Vatican has not yet announced a date for the UN visit, but has confirmed that Benedict intends to visit the UN, and speculation has focused on next year for the trip. Benedict already has several competing invitations from American and Canadian bishops, and is likely to get more as the visit, his first North American visit as pontiff, approaches.

Boston presents symbolic opportunities and risks for the pontiff, given that the sexual abuse crisis erupted here in 2002, and the archdiocese has been struggling to repair its reputation and its finances ever since.

Labels: local, Pope Benedict, U.S. Church

New Musician/ Funeral Policy in the Diocese of Providence. Via Christus Vincit:

For a little over 20 years, organists in the Diocese of Providence have collected their fee for funerals independently from the undertaker, and sometimes the family of the deceased.

Effective July 1, 2007, that will change. Per order Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the new policy will be that the undertaker cuts one check to the parish for everything, including music, and the parish cuts the check for the musician. This new policy has only one con - the fact that I have to now wait till payday instead of getting the funeral check the day of the funeral. I can get used to that. Compared to the many pros in this new policy, the one con is nothing. The bishop's reasoning for the new policy is impeccable.

The reason for the new policy is so that parishes (namely musicians and especially pastors) can gain control over the music played at parish funerals, thus taking the "big head" off the undertaker who feels that since he's paying the musician directly that he's "bought" the musician and now owns him/her until the funeral Mass is over, and giving the pastor the opportunity to exercise his responsibility in liturgy (a responsibility the pastor actually has had all along, but now doesn't feel so intimidated). In the case of quite a few, you'll find some pastors who could give a rat's behind about the quality of music used at funerals - you know, the ones who think "pastoral" means "give'em what they want". In the case of a few more around here, I think some more pastors will put their two cents in, as will more musicians.

(h/t Domini Sumus)

As one who plays funerals quite regularly when I'm not in school, I personally haven't had too many problems with pushy undertakers. However, they often send in "requests from the family" which are usually just requests from the undertakers themselves. But I'm all about solving problems and if this takes care of some issues then I'm all for it! Bishop Tobin... twice in one week.

Labels: local, music

From today's Providence Journal:

Starting with today’s issue, The Providence Visitor will be the Rhode Island Catholic. Graphically, the new paper has a cleaner, more contemporary look with larger type, better use of photographs, and superior organization that makes for easier reading. The new paper’s motto is “Faith, Family & Life Since 1875.”
...

The new paper has a new Web site, which is still under development. Bishop Tobin has also ordered a redesign of the diocese’s Web site to bring it to a contemporary standard. That project is not completed yet, either.

“The changing spiritual and pastoral challenges of our times require us to be open to new approaches and strategies,” Bishop Tobin said. “Upon my arrival in Providence, it became apparent to me that our newspaper could be even more effective and attractive than it already was.”

The bishop spoke during a news conference in the basement of Providence’s Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul, built by the diocese’s first bishop, the Most Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken, who was born in Ireland. Having been transferred from Youngstown, Ohio, Bishop Tobin was installed in the cathedral in an elaborate Mass two years ago today.
...

Bishop Tobin hopes that the Rhode Island Catholic will reflect the diocese’s willingness to participate in the public discourse. But as publisher, one of many hats he wears, he has no intention of moving the paper away from what he describes as its core responsibility: to the teachings of Jesus and the Roman Catholic Church. “The essential mission of a Catholic newspaper is found in the words of Jesus Christ who commissioned his apostles to ‘go forth and teach,’ ” Bishop Tobin said.

An editorial in today’s paper states: “We will not print opinions that are in contradiction of church teaching — any more than a newspaper for, say, Greenpeace would print a letter in support of the slaughter of whales.”

With his first-year agenda filled with more immediate matters, the bishop began to move in earnest toward a new paper several months ago. He had his staff seek advice from the Catholic Press Association, and then he hired Providence’s Creative Circle Media Consulting to help redesign the paper. He hired a new editor and general manager, Marcia Grann O’Brien, a convert from the Lutheran Church to Roman Catholicism. Bishop Tobin kept a hand in the redesign, and chose the new name; “Visitor,” he has quipped, sounded more like a tourist guide than a Catholic publication.

Diocese communications director Michael K. Guilfoyle, a Tobin appointee, began yesterday’s news conference noting the coincidence of “two historical events”: the launch of the new paper, and the second anniversary of Bishop Tobin’s installation.

When the bishop took the podium, he joked about the timing of the news conference, which was scheduled several weeks ago.

“When Michael mentioned the two great events we are observing today,” the bishop said, “along with the launching of the new paper, I thought he was referring to the return of Buddy Cianci to New England!”

The audience laughed. The bishop makes a habit of bringing humor to his public appearances, and many of his sermons.

Labels: local, media

Saint John's Rector resigns early:

The leader of St. John's Seminary in Brighton resigned abruptly last week, saying he is unhappy with the Archdiocese of Boston for selling the seminary's library and one of its halls as part of a $65 million sale of church headquarters to Boston College.

The Rev. John A. Farren, rector of St. John's Seminary since 2003, had been scheduled to step down on June 30 to take a new assignment in New York City, but Farren resigned last week after the school's board voted to support the sale of 18 acres of archdiocesan land to Boston College. Farren e-mailed a letter of resignation to the board on May 24 that detailed his fierce opposition to the sale, which includes the seminary's Bishop Peterson Hall as well as the seminary library.

Board member Mary Kate Connolly confirmed Farren's early resignation, but declined to share his resignation letter or discuss its contents. Farren, a Dominican priest from Medford who was ordained in 1964, did not respond to requests for comment on his departure.

...

Under the deal, which still must be approved by the Vatican, the archdiocese would retain only one building of the seminary, St John's Hall. However, Donilon said, the enormous structure is ample for the seminary's current operations.

He also said that Farren's early departure will have little practical effect since O'Malley has already named the Rev. Arthur L. Kennedy to take over as seminary rector on July 1.

Labels: local, vocations

Important to the locals: Audrey died over the weekend. From CWN:

Audrey Santo, a young Massachusetts woman who lived most of her life in a comatose state, surrounded by unexplained spiritual phenomena, died at home on Saturday, April 14.

As a toddler, Audrey Santo suffered a traumatic accident, which-- aggravated by medical errors-- left her in a condition known as akinetic mutism. She spent nearly 20 years in a bed in her family's home in Worcester, Massachusetts, before finally succumbing to cardio-pulmonary failure.

Thousands of visitors came to pray at the silent patient's bedside over the years, and many reported extraordinary events. There were reports of bleeding Hosts, statues that exuded oil, and a scent of roses in the bedroom. Officials of the local Worcester diocese investigated the reports without reaching any definite conclusion.

“We may never fully understand the causes of various paranormal events which have been reported,” said Worcester Bishop Robert McManus upon hearing of Audrey's death. He added, however, "Everyone who visited their home was touched by the unswaying commitment to life that was exhibited each and every day by the Santo family and by the extensive network of friends and volunteers. God works in mysterious ways, but most importantly, He works through each of us to make His love present for those who are most in need.” Bishop McManus will preside at a funeral Mass on April 18.

Labels: local

From this morning's Boston Globe:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is getting out of the hospital business.

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and a tight circle of archdiocese leaders have made a tentative deal to transfer ownership of the six hospitals in the Caritas Christi Health Care system, including Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, to the nation's largest Catholic hospital chain.

An agreement with St. Louis-based Ascension Health, which operates more than 70 hospitals in 20 states, would end a long history of local hospital management by the archdiocese. It has operated St. Elizabeth's for nearly a century and in 1985 formed the Caritas Christi system. The system grew to include Catholic hospitals from Fall River to Methuen, with 12,000 employees.

The deal, described by three people who have been briefed on the church's plans, will bring more money and expertise to a system facing increasingly complex challenges in the Boston healthcare market. It also ensures that church prohibitions on abortion and birth-control procedures at the six hospitals will remain in place.

The church hopes to complete the deal by July 1, said one person briefed. He said Ascension will assume Caritas Christi's debt -- about $278 million as of last year, according to Moody's Investors Service. No immediate changes in operations are expected, he said, and Ascension has no stated intentions to close any hospitals, but it will not guarantee what it might do in the future.

Caritas Christi is the second-largest hospital chain in Massachusetts with about 13 percent of hospital visits in the Boston area, but its technology is not keeping pace with that of other hospitals, especially the top chain, Partners HealthCare , which owns Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

At a meeting tonight in Waltham, archdiocese officials plan to tell members of individual hospital boards of trustees and the board of governors for the overall system that the church has signed a "letter of intent" with Ascension Health. In coming weeks and months, officials will negotiate details of the agreement, including how much compensation, if any, the archdiocese will receive. The value of the system remains unclear because of the size of its debt and questions about its capacity to increase revenue and market share.

The archdiocese declined to comment on the pending deal because it has not yet had an opportunity to present details to the boards. Ascension Health also declined to comment.

Labels: local, U.S. Church

... but we're always so far ahead of the curve!

Not sure if everyone caught this in the New Bedford Standard-Times on Sunday:

The Diocese of Fall River may have been a decade ahead of most of the nation in dealing with sexual abuse by priests, but it lags well behind many others nationally — and all of the others statewide — in making its financial statements accessible to parishioners and the public.

The Archdiocese of Boston, under Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, former bishop of Fall River, as well as the dioceses of Springfield and Worcester, post their annual audit reports on their Web sites in the spirit of full disclosure.

But the Diocese of Fall River, led by Bishop George Coleman, does not. Asked to provide a copy of its audit report, the diocese refused.

The issue of financial accountability dovetails with the massive legal settlements many dioceses, including Fall River, have made with the victims of sexual abuse by priests. (As of 2004, the Diocese of Fall River reported it had paid $16 million to settle 216 claims, mostly to victims of the late former priest James Porter.)

Transparency about where the money comes from and goes is one of the main objectives of Voice of the Faithful, a controversial lay group organized in the wake of the scandals."The Archdiocese of Boston has been the example for everybody to follow," said George Perkins, Ph.D., of Yarmouth, a retired banker, economist and Voice of the Faithful member.

Yet rather than make public its annual audits, the Diocese of Fall River instead publishes an annual report on the contributions and spending in the Catholic Charities Appeal.

"It's not an audited statement. It's an income statement. It's not a balance sheet. And I don't know who produces it," Dr. Perkins said.

John Kearns, the spokesman for the Diocese of Fall River, refused a Standard-Times request for the annual audit. And he said that while the bishop is "looking at" the idea of making it public, the diocese has never done so.

There's more, so don't miss the rest of this is interesting to you.

Labels: local