Boston Globe Interview with Cardinal O'Malley on Communion for Pro-Abortion Pols

O'Malley on Obama and abortion EmailLinkComments (44) Posted by Michael Paulson November 11, 2008 08:07 AM Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley yesterday talked with me about his thoughts on the election of Barack Obama as president and the abortion issue. I have a story in today's paper; here is a transcript of our conversation:
Q: So many bishops spoke out on abortion in recent weeks, and yet a majority of Catholics voted for Barack Obama. What do make of that?
A: It was a very complicated election. I don’t think that the abortion issue is what decided the election. It was more the economy, the war, and the dissatisfaction with the present administration.
When I was in high school (in Ohio) I joined the NAACP and did voter registration in black neighborhoods, when I wasn’t old enough to vote myself. And I was there at Resurrection City after Martin Luther King was murdered, and living in the mud with thousands of people on the lawn of the Lincoln Memorial and having off-duty redneck policemen throwing canisters of tear gas at us and shouting obscenities. So, to me, the election of an Afro-American is like the Berlin Wall falling. I mean, for my generation, I suppose young people today can’t appreciate that, but to me it is something very big.
My joy, however, is tempered by the knowledge that this man has a deplorable record when it comes to prolife issues and is possibly in the pocket of Planned Parenthood which in its origins was a very racist organization to eliminate the blacks, and it’s sort of ironic that he’s been co-opted by them. However, he is the president, and everyone wishes him well, and we will try to work with him. However, I hope he realizes that his election was not a mandate to rush ahead with a pro-abortion platform. And the fact that in states like Florida and California, where he won, the referendums on marriage showed that the people who were more socially conservative voted for him, but voted for him for other reasons than for issues like this.
Q: There’s been a lot of discussion about whether the bishops’ teaching on voting is too nuanced, because it was used in all kinds of ways by all kinds of groups during this election, because it said Catholics are not single-issue voters. What do you think?
A: I think that most Catholics understand what the church’s teachings are and those voter guide things are always problematic but I think in general people understand. It was interesting, if one considers Massachusetts, which is so overwhelmingly Democratic, and 8 years ago Gore got 75 percent of the Catholic vote and four years ago, Kerry, who is Catholic and from Massachusetts, got 50 percent of it, so they lost 25 percent of the vote in four years, and I think a lot of that was the influence of people’s concerns about life issues and things like that. And obviously when you look at the differential between the way that Catholics who are church-going Catholics vote and those who are not church going Catholics, I think that the Catholics reflect the church’s teaching. Not as much as we’d like them to, but certainly this last election there were many other factors that intervened.
Q: You just alluded to the fact that many of the people in your archdiocese are Catholics who support abortion rights, including leading politicians, and both US senators. What is your position on whether they should present themselves for Communion, and whether you should be giving it to them?
A: The church’s teaching on worthiness for Communion and proper disposition is in the Catholic catechism, and it’s no secret, and I support that. There is perhaps a teaching where we have not done as good a job of late as we used to. When I was growing up, we would go to confession every Saturday, we would fast from midnight, there was much more of an awareness of the need to be spiritually prepared and in communion with the church and in a state of grace. Today I think we need to reinforce that teaching a lot. And once that teaching is better understood, then, I think, it will be obvious as to who should be coming to Communion and who shouldn’t. But until there’s a decision of the church to formally excommunicate people, I don’t think we’re going to be denying Communion to the people. However, whatever the church’s decision is, we will certainly enforce.
Q: Your position four years ago was that you did not want confrontations at the altar rail.
A: That’s right. We do not want to make a battleground out of the Eucharist.
Q: There’s been a lot of conversation about whether there’s another strategy on abortion, whether trying to reduce the number would be more effective at this point. What do you think about that idea?
A: We’re always for reducing the number. But we cannot turn our back on the obligation to work for just laws that protect human life, from the first moment of conception until natural death. So obviously we want to do all that we can to reduce the number of abortions, but as long as those unjust laws are on the book, human life is threatened. Now they’re talking about pushing this FOCA, which doesn’t sound to me like it’s going to try and reduce abortions, but simply make them much more accessible to people, and pay for them, at home and abroad. So we must work diligently and tirelessly to change the laws, and work diligently and tirelessly to change people’s hearts, so that there’s a greater realization of the seriousness of this, and how our humanity is diminished when we are not respectful of human life.
Q: Is there anything you would like to see the conference do? Is there some action that you think should be taken?
A: I would just like to see us have a united voice, and a strong response, one that will reinforce that there’s no new way of being prolife, and that we must work on both tracks, trying to reduce the number of abortions and trying to change the laws.

Chief Vatican liturgist replaced

Vatican, Oct. 1, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has replaced Archbishop Piero Marini, the longtime director of office of papal liturgies.

Archbishop Marini, who has coordinated papal liturgical celebrations since 1987, has become a familiar face to millions of Catholics, appearing regularly beside Pope John Paul II (bio - news) and then Pope Benedict XVI at papal ceremonies.

Once a private secretary to Archbishop Annibale Bugnini, the chief architect of the liturgical reforms following Vatican II, Archbishop Marini was also a lightning-rod for controversy because of his penchant for liturgical innovation. Since the election of Benedict XVI as Supreme Pontiff in April 2005, Vatican-watchers had speculated that Archbishop Marini would be replaced by someone more sympathetic to the new Pope's own more traditional approach to the liturgy.

Confirming reports that had circulated early in September, Pope Benedict named another cleric with the same surname-- Father Guido Marini of the Genoa archdiocese-- to become the new master of ceremonies for papal liturgies.

The incoming chief liturgist for the Vatican, Father Guido Marini, has been serving as chancellor and chief liturgist for the Archdiocese of Genoa. In those capacities he served closely with the former archbishop-- and current Vatican Secretary of State-- Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (bio - news).

The outgoing liturgist, Archbishop Piero Marini, has been appointed by the Pope to become the new president of the pontifical committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. In that role he replaces Cardinal Jozef Tomko, who is retiring at the age of 83.

Born in Slovakia, Cardinal Tomko was ordained as a priest of the Rome diocese in 1949. He has served for years at the Vatican in a variety of posts, including a term from 1985 to 2001 as prefect of the Congregation for Evangelization.

'Catholic Church isn't hiding apocalypse secret'

'Catholic Church isn't hiding apocalypse secret'
By Malcolm Moore, Rome Correspondent for the Telegraph

The only surviving witness to a decades-long conspiracy theory has firmly denied the Catholic Church is hiding details about a predicted apocalypse.

Archbishop Loris Capovilla, 91, said there was no truth in the rumour that the Vatican was suppressing a vision of the end of the world.

"The text which I read in 1959 is the same that was distributed by the Vatican. I have had enough of these conspiracy theories.

"It just isn't true. I read it, I presented it to the Pope and we resealed the envelope."

Revised lectionary approved for Canada 24 August 2007

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) will publish a revised Lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities. This is the book of readings used in the public worship of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada. The revised lectionary is expected to be available next spring in order to be used for the beginning of the following liturgical season - Year B - starting 30 November 2008.

The Holy See recently gave its approval (recognitio) to the project. It is the fruit of years of research and discussion by the Bishops of Canada and a number of experts working in close collaboration with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome. The project also involved consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.


CCCB Vice President Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg said he welcomes the news "that the Holy See has granted its official seal of approval for the publication of a new Lectionary for Sundays and Solemnities for the Church in Canada."


Archbishop Weisgerber went on to say, "The Lectionary is the result of important cooperation between members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and officials of the Holy See. While most of the Lectionary text has not been altered, changes have been made so that the Word proclaimed in our churches will be clearer or more accurate. I look forward to receiving this new edition into our diocesan Church."


Canada is currently the only country where the Roman Catholic lectionary is based on the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, the copyright for which is held by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Other English-speaking Episcopal Conferences are now also considering the possibility.

1,035 Rosary Rally Captains Get Ready

Hanover, PA, August 24, 2007 - Thousands of Catholic volunteers are preparing to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. The target date is October 13 and the goal is two thousand Public Square Rosary Rallies nationwide.

The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) and its America Needs Fatima campaign are promoting rosary rallies in public places as a fitting way to commemorate the jubilee anniversary of the miracle of the sun, which occurred before 70,000 witnesses in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.

At the group's campaign headquarters near Topeka, Kansas, coordinator Francis Slobodnik announced that they had reached a milestone of 1,000 Rosary Rally Captains.

"Over a thousand people agreed to organize these rallies in every state. People are really excited about it and momentum is picking up fast," noted Mr. Slobodnik. "Participants will proclaim their faith publicly, pray for America, and send a clear message to secularists who want to ban God from the public square."

"The office is buzzing with activity. Rosary volunteers and staff are busy contacting new rosary captains, answering questions and sending out supplies. Our biggest challenge is not recruiting rally captains, but rather finding the time to speak with all the people who call in and express interest," Mr. Slobodnik said. "Ten more phone lines were just installed to handle incoming calls."

"More and more people are looking to the Fatima message because it offers a sure remedy to the moral crisis in society." Mr. Slobodnik continued. "In other words, prayer, penance and conversion are the answer to many problems."

America Needs Fatima also distributed one hundred thousand Fatima Jubilee Rosaries free of charge to Catholics and non-Catholics. To receive a Rosary, call toll-free: 1-866-584-6012.

Contact:

John Horvat , The American TFP , 717-225-7147 ext. 227 , jh1908@aol.com

www.tfp.org

Motu proprio alert: Castrillon confirms ruling is coming

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR. New York

The top Vatican official in charge of use of the Tridentine Mass has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI “intends to extend to the entire church the possibility of celebrating the Mass and the sacraments according to the liturgical books promulgated by Pope John XXIII in 1962.” Those books contain the last approved version of the older "Latin Mass" celebrated prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), as well as rites for sacraments such as baptism and holy orders.

The remarks from Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, came in an address to the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean.


. . .

Castrillón’s speech at the CELAM meeting marks the first time the cardinal has publicly confirmed that such a move is imminent. Castrillón said that under the terms of the pope’s decision, the older liturgies will become “an extraordinary form of the one Roman rite.”

Antonio Socci Refutes Cardinal Bertone’s New Book on the Third Secret

Reprinted from the Fatima Center

The Last Seer of Fatima, written by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was published in Rome on May 10. The book was an intended refutation of Antonio Socci’s The Fourth Secret of Fatima (published in November 2006), in which Socci, an acclaimed author, presents hard evidence there exists a second text of the Third Secret of Fatima yet unpublished.

Bertone’s book does not answer the questions posed by Socci and by others who have written about the probability of a second text of the Secret not yet revealed. Rather, the Cardinal resorts to personal attacks against Socci himself.

On May 12, Antonio Socci issued a forceful response originally titled “Dear Cardinal Bertone: Who — Between You and I — is the one Who’s Lying and Knowing It? And Please Don’t Mention Masonry.” The article appeared in the May 12 Libero as “Socci Destroys Bertone”.

What follows is a summary of Socci’s rebuttle.

Cardinal Bertone attempts to dismiss Socci’s claims as “mere fabrications” without giving any proof. Striking a new low, Bertone says that by putting forward the questions posed in his book, Socci is playing “the ancient game of Masonry to discredit the Church.”

But Bertone, says Socci, ignores the evidence put forth in The Fourth Secret of Fatima, and simply calls Socci a liar. “Unfortunately”, says Socci, “he doesn’t show how and when I lied.” The truth of the matter is that Socci asked the Cardinal (to name just one of the questions) why in his commentary on the Third Secret published by the Vatican Bertone quotes a letter written by Sister Lucy, while at the same time he omits (without saying it), a decisive phrase that would have debunked his entire interpretation. Bertone give no explanation as to why he did his, but simply repeats the “modified” letter of Sister Lucy.

Mr. Socci reiterates the “core of the dispute” is that the Vatican did not release the entire Third Secret in 2000. He reminds the reader that he had originally accepted the Vatican’s claim that it had been completely published, “but then I realized the facts said the opposite.” He pointed out the tremendous number of holes and contradictions contained in the official Vatican version. Socci also states, as related in his book, that he had requested an interview with Cardinal Bertone to ask him these questions, but Socci’s request was never acknowledged.

Bertone’s new book, says Socci, “does not even give one answer to the many questions. On the contrary, it raises new problems. He says he felt “embarrassed reading something so messed up and so self-damaging [to Bertone].” Socci explains that he was attacked by the Vatican Secretary of State “without a single trace of argument.” As a man who considers himself first, a Catholic; second, a journalist, “I would have preferred to be terribly wrong myself, and to be confuted.” What happened instead was something the Vatican should have “avoided at all cost”: Bertone “exposed himself publicly without answering anything” and on the contrary adding new “findings” which are disastrous for him and for the Vatican.

Socci points out that Cardinal Bertone was sent to speak to Sister Lucy three times: in 2000 before the publication of the Secret; in November 2001; and again in December 2003.

“These three personal meetings” says Socci, “were a great opportunity to allow the last living seer, almost 100 years old, to leave to Christianity and mankind her complete and most precious testimony about the most important Marian apparition in history; a monumental opportunity.”

Socci explains that Bertone should have recorded or filmed these exceptional interviews to leave them to posterity. At least he should have organized a transcription of the questions and answers to be signed by Sister Lucy “to avoid any future and foreseeable contestations.”

But what did Bertone do? “Incredibly enough,” says Socci, “these three interviews — that lasted for at least 10 hours in total, as the prelate says — were not recorded or filmed or transcribed.” Bertone today says he merely “took notes”. So in the official documents of Fatima, there are “only a few short phrases reportedly attributed to the sister, phrases of uncertain credibility”; phrases that were “not satisfactory because he [Bertone] did not ask her the decisive questions, the ones that would serve to clear any doubt”, or at least, these questions are not recorded by Bertone.

In Socci’s book, he asked why from out of 10 hours of interviews did Bertone only make known a few phrases of Sister Lucy, phrases that would take up about 4 minutes. “What else was said during those hours?” Socci asked Bertone. “Why didn’t you put to Sister Lucy the fundamental [most important] questions, or why didn’t you publish her answers?” Bertone gives no answer in his book. He merely accuses Socci of “playing the ancient game of Freemasonry to discredit the Church” because Socci had the integrity to raise these legitimate questions. [Socci notes that not even The Da Vinci Code’sDan Brown received this treatment from Bertone!]

Worse, Bertone attributes to Sister Lucy — who is now dead and cannot deny anything — some strange phrases that were not reported in the year 2000 document.

Bertone claims that after Sister Lucy saw the 2000 document, she said, “this is the Third Secret"; the “only text”; and “I never wrote anything else.”

But if Sister Lucy really said these things, notes Socci, then why was this all-important testimony never reported in the official Vatican commentary?

“And why” asks Socci, “did the Prelate not ask the seer if she ever wrote the sequel to those mysterious words pronounced by Our Lady and left hanging by the ‘etc’” (“In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc”), considered by all Fatima scholars as the beginning of the Third Secret?

Bertone now says Sister Lucy claims when she heard of the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in 1981, “she thought that the prophecy of the Third Secret was fulfilled.”

But Socci asks, “Why on earth was such striking confirmation never reported in the official document?”

Bertone’s claim also contradicts, as Socci notes, the 1982 letter written by Sister Lucy to John Paul II: “... if we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of the final part of the prophecy (Third Secret), we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge ... It is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment.”

Socci also notes that Cardinal Ratzinger had said in 2000 that the Vatican interpretation was merely hypothesis and not the official interpretation, but now Cardinal Bertone “demands to impose it as the official version.”

Socci goes on to note various facts that support the thesis of two texts of the Secret: one published in 2000 and another yet unpublished:

• the evidence that the Secret was written on one sheet of paper;

• the evidence that the size of the paper was about 9x14 cm contained in an envelope about 12x18 cm;

• the evidence that the Secret consists of only 20–25 lines of text;

• the evidence from Paris Match magazine, from Sister Pasqualina, the confidential assistant of Pope Pius XII; and from Msgr. Capovilla, personal secretary told Pope John XXIII who said the Secret was held in a desk in the Pope’s apartment, which conflicts with the 2000 commentary that claims it was stored at the Holy Office.

“Bertone does not answer these testimonies in his book”, says Socci. The Prelate merely says “the cinematographic reconstructions of the envelope hidden in the desk of the Pope are pure fantasies,” but provides no evidence except his own testimony.

Bertone goes on to ridicule the idea that the Secret speaks of “apostasy” in the Church.

Socci responds, “I don’t talk about apostasy, but Cardinal Ottaviani and Cardinal Ciappi did.” (“In the Third Secret, it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” – Ciappi)

More hints that the Third Secret speaks of an apostasy in the Church, notes Socci, are found in Sister Lucy’s 1957 interview with Father Fuentes, and in two statements of Cardinal Ratzinger.

Socci says he does not have space to enumerate “all the gaffes” in Bertone’s book. But to give one more example: Bertone claims that Gorbachev, in his historic meeting with Pope John Paul II on December 1, 1989, “pronounced a mea culpa in front of the Pope.” Yet this fact “was explicitly denied by the Vatican Press Office on March 2, 1998.”

One of the most fascinating aspects of Socci’s rebuttal is his closing comment about the letter of Pope Benedict XVI that appears in Bertone’s book.

Socci writes, “Obviously, the letter to the Pope to the prelate is used as an introduction to the book, even if the Pope keeps his words as general as possible. From my point of view, I keep the letter that Benedict XVI wrote to me regarding my book, thanking me for the ‘feelings that suggested its writing’. Words which act as a comfort to me, while I’m facing the insults and the pathetic allegations that I’m ‘playing the game of Masonry’.”