Pope Francis, homosexuality, sins and crimes

On Tuesday, January 24th, Pope Francis sat down with the Associated Press.  It seems the interview covered a range of topics, but for this post, I want to focus on some remarks he made about homosexual sex.  I'll describe what was said, and then share a handful of thoughts on what is notable about Francis's words.

Chicagoan Named New Head of Vatican Office for Choosing Bishops

 No, not Jim!  Not even Cardinal Cupich!  

Pope names missionary bishop to head Dicastery for Bishops

America's writeup

Pope Francis taps Chicago-born bishop to lead Vatican department that evaluates new bishops

Pope Francis has named Robert Francis Prevost, an Augustinian missionary who has been serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, as the new prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops. Bishop Prevost succeeds Cardinal Marc Ouellet, both as prefect and as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Robert Francis Prevost, 67, was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on 14 September 1955. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in 1977, in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in St. Louis, and made his solemn vows on 29 August 1981. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, graduating with a degree in Theology.

At age 27, he was sent by the Order to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). He received priestly ordination on 19 June 1982. He received his Licentiate in 1984, then was sent to work in the mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru (1985-1986).

In 1999 he was elected prior provincial of the “Mother of Good Counsel" Province. After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry the Order entrusted to him again at the 2007 Ordinary General Chapter. 

In October 2013 he returned to his province to be teacher of the professed and vicar provincial; positions he held until Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Perun, on 3 November 2014, elevating him to the episcopal dignity of titular bishop of the Diocese of Sufar. He took canonical possession of the diocese on 7 November in the presence of Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop James Patrick Green; he was ordained bishop on 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Cathedral of his diocese. 

He has been bishop of Chiclayo since 26 September 2015. He has served as second vice president of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference since March 2018. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and a member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.

Benedict resigned because of insomnia

This gives us a different picture of Benedict's pontificate and his retirement. And maybe Benedict's relationship with his personal secretary.  

Biographer reveals the reason for Pope Benedict’s resignation: insomnia

Ever since Benedict XVI announced his resignation on Feb. 11, 2013, cardinals and others have speculated on the main reason for his decision to resign. Today, his German biographer, Peter Seewald, confirmed that nine weeks before he died, Benedict, in his last letter to him, revealed that insomnia was the “central motive” for his resignation.

In the letter on Oct. 28, Benedict mentioned “the insomnia that has accompanied me uninterruptedly since World Youth Day in Cologne.

World Youth Day took place in Cologne in August 2005. Benedict was elected pope on April 19, 2005.

In the letter, Benedict wrote that the “strong remedies” prescribed to him by his personal physician at the time had initially worked and guaranteed his “availability” as pope. However, he said the medicines soon “reached their limits” and were “less and less able to ensure” his continued service as pope.

Finally, the pope recalled that during his trip to Mexico and Cuba in March 2012, there was a serious incident. The morning after the first night of the visit in Mexico, Benedict revealed that he had reached for his handkerchief to find that it was “totally soaked with blood. I must have bumped into something in the bathroom and fallen.” He said a surgeon “thankfully” managed to treat the matter in such a way that the injuries were not visible.

After this incident, Benedict wrote that his new personal physician had urged a reduction in sleeping pills and insisted that he only be allowed to appear in public on mornings during future trips abroad. According to Benedict, it was clear to him that these medically justified restrictions “could only apply for a short time.”

Mr. Seewald told KNA today that “Benedict XVI did not want to make a fuss during his lifetime about the intimate circumstances of his resignation, which was justified by his exhaustion.”

The German biographer noted that unfortunately, even after his death, speculation continues about possible other reasons for the move. 

Mr. Seewald is the author of Benedict’s Legacy, which will be published soon in Germany by Hoffmann und Campe, but he said the letter of Oct. 28 from Benedict could not be included “for reasons of time and production.”

Francis on his future

Francis gave a major interview to the Associated Press. This is the part that deals with his future.

Pope Francis on his health, critics and future papacy

My Comments in Italics

Sister Andre

You probably saw in the news that the oldest person person in the world recently passed away at the age of 118. She was a French nun, Sister Andre.

America Media had a nice article (the original source was OSV): 

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/01/18/sister-andre-oldest-person-dies-244542

Now is the moment

This is my homily for today, the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  The readings for today are here.

A brief note: a year or two ago, our church had video screens installed, primarily to display song lyrics and common prayers like the I Confess and the Nicene Creed.  Today, for the first time, I integrated video into a homily, showing a 2-minute clip from Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  We (me plus a few folks from the parish who know a little more about audio/visual technology than me) weren't able to figure out how to produce a separate file of that 2-minute excerpt, so the person who "drives" the slideware during mass simply started the full video manually at the starting point I had requested, and stopped it manually at the end point.  I'm explaining this so you understand why I don't include the video in this script of today's homily, even thought this blogging software has the ability to add video to a post: we weren't able to produce a separate, two-minute clip.  Probably, there are people in the parish with those skills, but we haven't identified them yet.  In the meantime, if you wish to watch Martin Luther King give the segment of the speech I played this morning (it's worthwhile to see and hear him deliver it), go to YouTube or another resource and find one of the videos of his speech.  The portion I played ran from 5:05 through 7:27 on the version of the video I used today; the timing may vary a bit from one video to another.

Here is the text of the homily; here, I've pasted a transcript of the portion of King's speech which I played today.  

Francis on Liturgical Practice

 On Friday, January 20, Pope Francis gave a brief three- page address to a course that was formed to help implement his liturgical vision outlined in the Apostolic Letter

DESIDERIO DESIDERAVI ON THE LITURGICAL FORMATION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

That eighteen-page letter is frankly overly theoretical whereas this is Francis in his down to earth no-nonsense practicality.

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE COURSE "LIVING LITURGICAL ACTION FULLY"

Some of his "zingers' and my comments follow.

On the Meaning of Conscience

 I have mentioned before that I belong to a book club which meets once a month. The members suggest books and vote on the selections for the next six month period. Of course that means one will be reading some of other people's selections as well as one's own.

It happens that this month's selection is "The Push", by Ashley Audrain. The plot revolves around a child who is without any sense of empathy or feelings for anyone but herself. It hints at possible reasons, but the reader is left wondering as to the cause of the child's problems. The mom had pretty severe postpartum depression, so attachment disorder possibly is part of it. Other extended family members had issues too, so maybe there are genetic factors. The reader is left with a lot of "maybes". The bottom line is that Very Bad Things happen. The child is very good at manipulating people and projecting sweetness and light. All in all, a pretty dark story. 

Which brings us to the topic of conscience. Is it possible to develop a conscience without any empathy or fellow feeling? I can say that the book is just a story. But it isn't far from some things that have happened in real life. I'm sure you have heard in the news about the six year old child who shot his teacher: 

Some thoughts on the National Eucharistic Revival

The National Eucharistic Revival is starting to take shape around here.  What will it look like, and what does it hope to accomplish?

Synodality - sex abuse scandal and the hierarchy

 An interesting opinion by Tom Roberts at NCRonline

The hierarchical culture, for better or worse — and regardless of how much input is permitted from laypeople — will in the end decide how synodality is integrated into the life of the church.

If that culture is not reformed at its core — and that means transformation of individuals — then little else matters. What can synodality mean when there's been such a deep, sacramental betrayal? How can it possibly work?

  https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/hierarchys-sacramental-betrayal-abuse-scandal-obstructs-synodality

And the most trusted institutional sector of society is...

Churches?  Non-profit, non-government organizations which help people?  Institutions of higher education?  No, it's...wait for it...

A Big Development in Orthodoxy? UPDATE

 The IOTA 2019 conference was opened by a keynote address by Kallistos Ware, an Orthodox Archbishop and theologian. It begins after an eight-minute introduction which you should skip. It lasts about 50 minutes, delivered in excellent Oxford English. Ware was educated in England and remained there for some time. His talk covers the material which I tried to outline below. Betty found it easy to follow even though she is unfamiliar with Orthodoxy. She said every time she had question, Ware answered it a few paragraphs later. Ware unfortunately died last year. 

Nearly 400 Orthodox Christian theologians from 44 countries convened in the largest international conference of its kind in Greece on Thursday (Jan. 12) to discuss “Nicaea-sized” questions facing the Eastern Orthodox Church amid war and bitter division.

A historic meeting of Orthodox Christian scholars convenes to confront divisions and war

Some quick thoughts on Cardinal Pell

Cardinal Pell, the most prominent Australian bishop of his generation, has died.  He was a polarizing figure, and (like most prominent churchmen of his generation) entangled in sex abuse scandal accusations, but like the man to whom he was allied, Pope Benedict, not altogether easy to fit into a simple, neat ideological box.  Pope Francis apparently thought he would be a key ally as well in cleaning up Vatican finances.

This is the Reuters obituary.  I don't have time now to do a media roundup, but I am sure NCR, America and other Catholic publications will provide more detailed obits.  

The generation of conservative senior clergy who seemed most prominent to me during the younger part of my adulthood - Cardinal Pell, Pope Benedict, Cardinal George - are dying.  These three weren't simply culture warriors, they also strove to be thought leaders for a conservative brand of Catholicism.  The ideological battles to which they tried to contribute a conservative theological foundation continue in the media and, perhaps, the parishes.  But the church itself - both the institution and the wider Body of Christ - moves to newer generations, with new and different hopes and concerns.  The Catholic church continues to renew itself.

Bishop Seitz on immigration policy - Updated

Update 1/10/2023 3:40 pm CST: the Morning Dispatch newsletter from this morning does a deeper dive on the Biden administration's new immigration policies.  At the bottom of the post, I've pasted some of the content from their analysis.

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The bishop of El Paso criticizes US immigration policies, and calls for us to do more.

Funerals, Eulogies & Benedict UPDATED!

The death of Benedict started an immediate speculative conflict about whether or not Benedict would be given a funeral appropriate to a pope since he was now the emeritus Pope or the emeritus Bishop of Rome. 

George Weigel is not someone whom I usually read. He is infamous for his review of one of Pope Benedict's encyclicals in which he put in gold all the words he agreed with (which were obviously the mind of Benedict) and in red all the words he disagreed with) which were obviously the work of some Curia hack. An outstanding example on cafeteria Catholicism!

However, his review of the Funeral rites gets it right

On the Funeral Liturgy and Homily

Chris Hedges on C-SPAN

 Journalist Chris Hedges was recently interviewed on C-SPAN program In-Depth.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?524629-1/depth-chris-hedges

It is a two-hour program with call-ins after 45 minutes.  Hedges discusses his views on war and America as an empire in decline.  Strangely enough, this is his first interview on C-SPAN in eleven years, despite being a prolific writer about the American society and its actions throughout the world.  I guess it's his "radicalism".  But Hedges is an ordained Presbyterian minister.  Daniel Berrigan baptized his youngest child.  Hedges is not just a writer of jeremiads, although I think he is very good at that.  He teaches college level courses in the New Jersey prison system.  He obviously loves his students and treasures the work they do for his classes.  One of the call-ins is one of his students who also fought to establish the Rutgers program.  

In addition to his life experience as a war correspondent , Hedges has an extensive knowledge of literature and the classics.  His books lay bare the seemingly insurmountable problems in our world.  He is no optimist but no cynic either.  Cynicism is only an excuse to roll up in a ball and do nothing.  No matter the odds of success and failure, there is a moral imperative to do good things.  And there are people doing them.

The Speakership: Updated!

Some interesting things are happening at the state level on speakership

Pennsylvania Democrats upended as House speaker flips to independent 

The Good Friday intercessions for the Jewish people

A few days ago, when it was announced that Pope Emeritus Benedict was ailing, Jack posted some predictions of how the media might assess Benedict's legacy.  Benedict died a day or two later, and Jack updated the post accordingly.  In the Comments section, we've been discussing Benedict's legacy.  One of those legacy-defining topics is Benedict's handling of the Good Friday intercession for Jewish people.    

In this post, I've gathered the texts of five different versions of that intercession.  All five versions have, at one time or another, been approved for use in Catholic worship.  I'm posting this information, in part, to keep the timelines and contents straight in my own mind.  But I hope this may be helpful for others who are interested in this topic.  It might provide one way to track the institutional church's progress in its relations with Jewish people, and how those relations are reflected in Catholic worship.

Benedict's Personal Secretary's Viewpoint

 The media are going to be given a lot of "help''

Archbishop Georg Gänswein’s “Nothing but the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI” is being published this month by the Piemme imprint of Italian publishing giant Mondadori, according to a press release.

Former Pope Benedict personal secretary's book promises to expose 'dark maneuvers'

A Different Perspective on Benedict

Rocco Palmo in his blog Whispers in the Loggia has done what he saw a Newpaper reporter in his hometown do for politicians, tell the complex human story behind political figures, in his case bishops.

I regard bishops as basically church politicians who make all the political decisions that civic politicians make. I don't know any bishops personally just as I don't know any politicians personally.  I have read Rocco's blog to keep in my mind the human beings that are behind church politics. 

When Benedict resigned, Rocco reprinted a talk that B16 had given to a group of elderly people a few months before his resignation. The talk is remarkable in that Benedict was actually talking about the kind of life that he had already decided he would begin to live in a few months. 

The talk is even more remarkable now that he has completed a decade of such a life. Even though he had many visitors, for the very active life he had led as a Cardinal and Pope it much have been much like the life that we have experienced during the pandemic (not being able to do or go to the places that you once were able to do). The life of prayer that he was recommending to the elderly was the life that he would live for more years that he was pope.

So, as we ponder the meaning of his life, it is well to remember that for the last decade he has shared the life of the elderly that most of us sooner or later will experience.

Quote of the Day