Pope Francis, Catholics, and Christians in the news worldwide
Easter Blessings to all! May the people in Ukraine, suffering unimaginable losses, find solace in the prayers from people worldwide to end this senseless genocide.
'I promise thee, this day thou shalt be
With Me in Paradise'
(Luke 23:43)
It was the thief's last prayer, perhaps even his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything, and found everything. When even the disciples were doubting and only one was present at the Cross, the thief owned and acknowledged Him as Saviour.”
― Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ
Fulton Sheen.....
I know this sounds absurd but wasn't there, at one time, some talk in the Catholic Church about making Fulton Sheen a Saint?
The ongoing investigation seems to have put an end to that ill advised nonsense.
“In the summer of 2011, a small band of brothers traveled to Avon Lake, Ohio, to remember and honor the life of our friend, Mike Medders. We served with him in Iraq, we loved him, and in September 2008, an al-Qaeda suicide bomber killed him.
“I remember that trip vividly because of two moments. The first happened when we were at Mike’s sister’s house. She was hosting a gathering of Mike’s friends. It was a hot summer night, and most of us were outside, talking, laughing, and remembering Mike.
“Then, out of the darkness, we heard bagpipes. One of the neighbors was standing by himself at the foot of the driveway, playing “Amazing Grace.” All conversation stopped. We stood still and listened as the neighbor played through each verse and then turned and walked silently home.
“The second happened the next day. Before we all left to go back to our homes, we gathered at Mike’s gravesite. As we walked up we could see that he’d had visitors. They’d left mementos of their time with Mike in Iraq. We stood by his gravestone in silence. Then one of my friends addressed him like he was standing right beside us.
““Hi Mike,” he said. “We miss you.”
“I’ve thought about those words for more than a decade. They represented one of the simplest and most direct statements of faith I’ve heard in my life. Of course Mike is alive. I know this because Jesus is alive. He defeated death and hell.
“The evidence that physical death does not end our lives is all over scripture. In Matthew 31, Jesus confronted a faction called the Sadducees, who did not believe in resurrection, and responded that God had said, “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,” three men who’d been dead for centuries. Jesus adds, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
“Then there’s an event known as the transfiguration, an event recorded in three of the gospels. Jesus led Peter, James, and John up a “high mountain” and was “transfigured” in front of them. Scripture describes the scene in vivid terms, Jesus’s “face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.”
“Moses and Elijah had also been dead for centuries.
“We also can’t forget the direct and immediate promise that Jesus made to Saint Dismas, the thief on the cross, the man who turned to Jesus in the moment of Christ’s apparent ultimate defeat but who had the faith to say, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“And what was Christ’s response? “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
“It’s crucial to remember the thief because it’s a reminder that eternal life isn’t reserved for the spiritual greats, but also for men like Dismas—who acknowledged his own guilt and who simply reached out to Christ and asked for his mercy and grace.
“One thing that I love about the Catholic faith is that it lives the reality of human eternal life in a tangible way that Protestants do not. I’ve always been fascinated by the Catholic practice of praying to saints. Yes, I’ve heard the Potestant counter-arguments, but there is something so immediate and tangible about regularly expressing faith that this great truth of scripture—that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living–is real.”
tbc
Moses and Elijah had also been dead for centuries.
We also can’t forget the direct and immediate promise that Jesus made to Saint Dismas, the thief on the cross, the man who turned to Jesus in the moment of Christ’s apparent ultimate defeat but who had the faith to say, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“The practice simply makes sense. If I believe that, say, Augustine is truly alive, then asking him to pray for me makes every bit as much sense as asking my pastor to pray for me. No, I don’t need to. I can pray to God directly. But do we not solicit the prayers of others in times of distress? And when those petitions acknowledge the remarkable reality of eternal life itself, they both build and demonstrate faith.
“Moreover, those prayers, as with all prayers, acknowledge that Christianity is a religion of miracles, and the central miracle—the miracle upon which all else ultimately depends—is Christ’s victory over sin and death. Here is C.S. Lewis describing the meaning of the resurrection:
The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the pioneer of life,’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so.
“And if the resurrection story is false? Here is Paul in 1 Corinthians:
For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
“Indeed, it is Christ's defeat of death that makes the entire “upside-down” kingdom of God viable. If there is nothing beyond this earth, why should the last be first? Why should we love our enemies? How could one possibly say that we gain our lives by losing our lives?
“But acknowledging this truth does not insulate us from grief. It is not even a firewall against fear. There is still pain and separation in death. In our Good Friday service, our pastor reminded us that the Bible’s shortest verse, “Jesus wept,” applied to the death of his friend Lazarus, a man Christ would momentarily resurrect. And Christ did not say to us, “do not mourn, for there is no reason,” but rather “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
“And speaking of fear, there is nothing quite like the feeling of facing a true mortal threat. I know there are readers who have faced this in war. I know there are readers who have faced moments of peril at home, or have received a grim diagnosis in a doctor’s office. If your experience is anything like mine, fear wells up involuntarily. In a moment, you ask yourself, “What do I really believe?”
“For many of us, it’s only because of faith and hope that we can take that next, trembling step—that we can do our duty, or face a danger, or endure the days or weeks or months of treatment and decline. There is pain ahead. There is mystery ahead. There is separation for a time. But is death the end? No. That is a lie.”
David French
"May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged. In this terrible night of suffering and death, may a new dawn of hope soon appear! Let there be a decision for peace. May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering. Please, please, let us not get used to war! Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets! Peace! May the leaders of nations hear people’s plea for peace. May they listen to that troubling question posed by scientists almost seventy years ago: “Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war?” (Russell-Einstein Manifesto, 9 July 1955). ... May the conflict in Europe also make us more concerned about other situations of conflict, suffering and sorrow, situations that affect all too many areas of our world, situations that we cannot overlook and do not want to forget."
Easter thoughts from mr zelensky..
Russia’s invasion has caused him to doubt whether it is still possible to associate religion with morality.
“I do not understand when religious representatives of Russia”—here he meant the pro-Putin patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church—“say they are faithfully empowering soldiers to kill Ukrainians.” Worse, “I cannot understand how a Christian country, the Russian Federation, with the largest Orthodox community in the world, will be killing people on these very days.” During the Easter season, the Russians are planning “a great battle in Donbas,” the Russian-occupied region in Ukraine’s far east. “This is not Christian behavior at all, as I understand it. On Easter they will kill, and they will be killed.”
The Russians use the Julian calendar or some such for religious holidays. Is this even their Easter?
GoSlugs said:
The Russians use the Julian calendar or some such for religious holidays. Is this even their Easter?
Orthodox Easter is next week. I don't think Russia is planning on wrapping things up before then.
[Edited to add] That being said, that means that Holy Week is starting in Moscow and in other Russian cities, and Zelensky's point stands.
this recent piece in the Times has created a bit of a kerfuffle.
It contains this remarkable line.
Whatever else Christianity is, it is an assertion of historic fact.
I'm pretty sure not even the Pope believes that.
I know that the New York Times doesn't fact-check opinion-columnists but surely there have to be some limits.https://t.co/0Uus6LJqCH
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) April 18, 2022
nohero said:
What’s the kerfuffle about?
good question.
Partly people were feeling it was just inappropriate for the Times. A little too religious.
People were upset at things like the line I quoted above.
There was also criticism for the author in general, who has caught flack before.
I thought it would be something about muffing the interpretation of the Updike poem.
The “a little too religious” objection is silly. It’s a personal essay on a religious holiday.
I’m still unclear about ”People were upset at things like the line I quoted above.”
NYT:New Jersey Diocese Agrees to Settle Sex Abuse Claims for $87.5 Million
On the one hand, this is good news for the 300 plus surviving victims who have come forward thus far in this particular diocese. The thing that really shocked me was the fact that, in a diocese of 60 parishes, the Church acknowledges the presence of 56 priests who sexually abused children. With numbers like that, how are we possibly supposed to believe that a large proportion of the laity involved in running these parishes didn't have at least some idea of what was going on?
It boggles the mind.
The tragedy of the sexual abuse coverup by the Catholic Church cuts so many ways. There are the direct victims of course. And then many more indirect victims because the Church has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on payouts - money that would otherwise have supported some of the good things the Church supports - schools, youth programs, etc.
tjohn said:
And then many more indirect victims because the Church has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on payouts - money that would otherwise have supported some of the good things the Church supports - schools, youth programs, etc.
Million dollar mansions for disgraced Archbishops......
Klinker said:
tjohn said:
And then many more indirect victims because the Church has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on payouts - money that would otherwise have supported some of the good things the Church supports - schools, youth programs, etc.
Million dollar mansions for disgraced Archbishops......
I don't share your hatred for the Catholic Church. Catch me on a normal day and I can see the good the church as done as well as the bad.
tjohn said:
I don't share your hatred for the Catholic Church. Catch me on a normal day and I can see the good the church as done as well as the bad.
I certainly don't hate Catholics or the Catholic Church. Most of my extended family members are active Catholics and I have repeatedly expressed my admiration for Pope Francis on this thread and elsewhere. Indeed, I would go as far to say (as I have said before) that the Pope is one of my personal heroes.
What I do hate is people who abuse children and those like Archbishop Myers who facilitate that abuse. If you and I can't find common ground on that issue, well..... God help you.
Klinker said:
Million dollar mansions for disgraced Archbishops......
Myers wasn’t disgraced, just replaced when he hit retirement age. He since passed away, and Cardinal Tobin sold his boondoggle of a house.
nohero said:
Myers wasn’t disgraced, just replaced when he hit retirement age.
I might have been editorializing there a bit. I was referring to Meyer's handling of the case of pedophile priest Father Michael Fugee who, after confessing to molesting children, was quietly transferred to a role at St Michaels Medical Center that involved contact with children before slipping into a position as a youth minister for the unsuspecting parishoners of St. Mary's in Colt's Neck.
There were many calls for the Archbishop to resign at the time that scandal broke but he soldiered on, feathering his nest as he went. I found the whole thing disgraceful.
nohero said:
He since passed away, and Cardinal Tobin sold his boondoggle of a house.
I have great respect for Cardinal Tobin. He is a man of progress.
Popcorn time.
https://www.catholicleague.org/marjorie-taylor-greene-must-be-sanctioned/
-----------------------------------
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE MUST BE SANCTIONED
Catholic League president Bill Donohue says Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene dug herself in deeper with her reply to his news release condemning her anti-Catholicism.
The letter below is being sent to the House Ethics Committee today:
April 28, 2022
Rep. Theodore E. Deutch
Chairman
House Ethics Committee
2323 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Rep. Jackie Walorski
Ranking Member
House Ethics Committee
466 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Rep. Deutch and Rep. Walorski:
As president of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am requesting that you levy sanctions against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her virulent anti-Catholicism.
On April 21, Greene was interviewed by Michael Voris, the head of Church Militant. In their discussion about the role of Catholic Charities working with immigrants, Greene said the Catholic Church was run by Satan.
Here is what she said. “I thought we had a separation of church and state, right? No, what it is, is Satan’s controlling the church.”
I asked for an apology and she publicly said there would be none. She responded by saying that her sweeping condemnation of the entire Catholic Church was meant only to apply to the bishops, as if that makes her hate speech acceptable.
Greene has a history of offending African Americans and Jews, so bigotry is something that is apparently baked into her.
The time has come for her to be either reprimanded or censured. Her irresponsible behavior has already caused her to be removed from committee assignments. Accordingly, her burst of anti-Catholicism now demands stronger sanctions against her.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
President
You keep a rabid dog as a pet, sooner or later, it’s going to bite you.
(Not to insult rabid dogs)
{I had thought the comments might reference the Pope’s reminders to treat Mothers-in-Law well, since they’re the mother of your partner, even if they might be difficult and aged}
joanne said:
{I had thought the comments might reference the Pope’s reminders to treat Mothers-in-Law well, since they’re the mother of your partner, even if they might be difficult and aged}
One might also remind mother in laws to treat their children’s partners well as they are the partner of their child (says the son in law of a woman who was difficult (to put things mildly) from the birth of my spouse until her (MIL’s) final day).
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Somebody sent me the following joke for Good Friday.
A race of aliens visits earth one day; they come in peace and surprisingly, they speak English.
Obviously all of the heads of government and religious leaders want to speak to the aliens so they set up a meeting with our new visitors.
When it’s the pope’s turn, he asks:
“Do you know about our lord and savior Jesus Christ?”.
“You mean J.C?”, responds the alien “yeah we know him he’s the greatest isn’t he? He swings by every year to make sure that we are doing ok”.
Surprised, the pope follows up with “He visits every year?! It’s been over 2 millenia and we’re still waiting for his SECOND coming!”.
The alien sees that the pope has become irate at this fact and starts trying to rationalize “maybe he likes our chocolate better than yours?”.
The pope retorts “Chocolates? What are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything?”.
The alien says “Yeah, when he FIRST visited our planet we gave him a huge box of chocolates. Why? What did you guys do?”