"So the battle continues, one that can never be lost and may never be won until the Last Trump."
Showing posts with label American Catholicism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Catholicism. Show all posts
The American Epoch in the Catholic Church
Evelyn Waugh looked ahead in
Life magazine, September 19, 1949 (pp. 135-37, 140, 143-44, 146, 149-150, 152, 155).
ChicagoMag: The Midwest’s Only Chinese Catholic Church Weathers Its 70th Year
A red brick church with a bell tower stands on Alexander Street in Chicago’s Old Chinatown. Stained glass windows filter light in to the 114-year-old building, and two small stone lions guard the entrance. With curly manes, the lions are nearly identical: one is female, with her paw resting on a cub, and the other is male, playing with a ball. These guardian lions are popular in Chinese Buddhism, but at St. Therese, they welcome parishioners to the only Chinese Catholic church in the Midwest.
Established in 1904, the building originally housed the congregation of Santa Maria Incoronata, serving the Italian community. The St. Therese Catholic Mission was formally erected in 1947 by then-Archbishop Samuel Stritch, as a way to serve the growing population of Chinese immigrants in Chicago; the parishioners met in a storefront church on Wentworth Avenue. As the community grew further, especially with an influx of people fleeing communist China, it needed more room for worshippers. By 1963, Santa Maria Incoronata was consolidated with another nearby church and the building was given to St. Therese. Despite the initial friction from the changes, the St. Therese Chinese community flourished, and Italian Americans still celebrate Masses and feast days at the Alexander Street church.
In the last 70 years, St. Therese has focused on providing resources to the community, especially for immigrants who are struggling to make it in a new country. The parish has Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking volunteers who serve as translators at St. James Food Pantry; it holds a monthly gathering for Chinese-speaking university students; and the church gives referrals for English and citizenship classes, such as to the Chinese American Service League and the Pui Tak Center.
Where are the most Catholic places in the United States?
Where are the most Catholic places in the United States? You might have guessed Boston, New York, or maybe Philadelphia or Chicago – places that because of past waves of immigration still retain a Catholic flavor. A new study by Georgetown University researchers found out where actual Catholics live and worship, and the most intensely Catholic places are not where you’d think.continue at Aleteia
CH: American Catholicism is being poisoned by factionalism
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| Cardinal Donald Wuerl, a new leader for liberal American Catholics (CNS photo/Tom Tracy) |
Liberals have found a new leader in Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington DC. The bishops’ conference is still dominated by conservatives, but Wuerl took the ascent of Pope Francis to mean that liberalism is now the reigning orthodoxy in the global Church. He has likened conservative “dissenters” among his “brother bishops” to Cardinal Louis Billot, who resigned his office in 1927 after Pope Pius XI condemned the reactionary movement Action Française. In March, Wuerl told the Jesuits’ America magazine: “There are some whom I think just feel very uncomfortable; everything was quite secure and safe and now that’s being challenged.”article at UK Catholic Herald
Pray for your enemies.
Douthat on the Podesta emails and the Catholic "civil war"
An essay in the form of a string of 21 tweets.
1. So, on the Podesta and Co. emails mocking conservative Catholic converts and envisioning/backing a liberalizing "Catholic Spring" ...— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) October 13, 2016
Loss of trust and the unraveling of institutions
Patrick Healy and Jonathan Martin's analysis in The New York Times of why and how the
Republican Party Unravels Over Donald Trump’s Takeover includes this.
"[Trump] quickly earned the trust that so many of those voters had lost in other fixtures of America — not just in its leaders, but in institutions like Congress, the Federal Reserve and the big-money campaign finance system that Mr. Trump has repudiated, as well as in corporations, the Roman Catholic Church and the news media."
'Nostra Aetate' 50th anniversary inspires Milwaukee celebrations
full article at The Wisconsin Jewish ChronicleLocal Jews and Catholics active in interfaith relations all declared that “Nostra Aetate” led to thoroughgoing changes. “As I began learning” about this document, said Elana Kahn-Oren, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, “I had my eyes opened again and again about how amazing [‘Nostra Aetate’] is.”
Because of it, Catholics have “changed their approach to how they deal with non-Catholics and specifically with Jews,” said Kahn-Oren, who is one of the leaders of the celebration events and a co-chair of the Catholic-Jewish Conference. Rabbi Ronald Shapiro, who recently retired from being senior rabbi at Congregation Shalom, has participated in interfaith relations work throughout his rabbinate, including in a Catholic priest-rabbi dialogue group.
He said priests have told him that older priests ordained long before “Nostra Aetate” tended to exhibit hostility to Judaism. “When the topic of Judaism came up,” he said, “there was the old belief that Jews had something to do with the crucifixion of Jesus, and that Judaism was a religion that was antithetical to Catholicism.”
“Many years after ‘Nostra Aetate,’” Shapiro continued, “and another generation had grown up, the priests said they never hear that kind of attitude any more. They don’t feel that sense of anti-Semitism. That was most impressive to me.”
Richard Lux is founding director of the Lux Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at the Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. For him, Catholic-Jewish relations has been “a 40-year passion of my life,” he said. “‘Nostra Aetate’ rejected 18 centuries of anti-Jewish teaching in the church,” he said. “It was a total transformation of church teaching.”
Taylor Marshall: Pope Pius IX’s Secret Vist to America in 1849
With Pope Francis arriving in America, there are many media sources recollecting the “first” papal visit to the United States by Pope Paul VI. But this isn’t quite correct. Back in 1849, there was a covert visit to the United States by Pope Pius IX. Here’s a video explaining it, or you can read on below for a full explanation of this little known historical fact.
I’ve only had the opportunity to visit the White House once and after lunch I was shown a portrait of a large ship flying the American and Papal flags. It depicts the first papal visit to the territory of the United States in the person of Pope Pius IX in 1849.
The American USS Constitution (known affectionally as “Old Ironsides”) received onboard King Ferdinand II and Pope Pius IX on Aug 1 1849 giving them a 21-gun salute. By stepping on board an American vessel, the Holy Father officially entered American territory. A commissioned military ship has the same legal status as a piece of political soil. So while Pius IX did not actually enter the borders of the United States, he did technically step foot onto American territory.
Squanto, the Catholic Hero of the Thanksgiving
continue at Taylor MarshallDo you remember Squanto, the Native American who assisted the Puritan Pilgrims at the “first Thanksgiving”?
Well, Squanto, our beloved hero of Thanksgiving, was Catholic!
His true name was Tisquantum, yet he is affectionately known to us as “Squanto.”
In 1614, Squanto was captured by a lieutenant of John Smith (remember? from Pocahontas). This shameful lieutenant attempted to sell Squanto and other Native Americans into slavery via Spain. However, some Franciscan friars discovered the plot and acquired the captured Native Americans, Squanto included. During this time, Squanto received instruction in the Catholic Faith and received holy baptism.
As a freeman, Squanto traveled to London where became a laborer in the shipyards. Here he became fluent in English. Eventually, Squanto was able to return to his Native Land, New England, in 1619 – five years after he had been kidnapped. He returned only to discover that his people were being decimated by the recently imported European diseases.
Since he was fluent in English, Squanto became well-known and valuable to the new English Pilgrims settled at Plymouth. As an English speaker, Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to fertilize the ground, grow corn, and the best places to catch fish.
The Catholic Answers Guide to Naming Your Baby
continue at Catholic AnswersThe other day I read a charming GQ feature on the do’s and don’ts of naming babies in the modern world. As someone who has had this privilege seven times over, and who likes to gripe about how the culture is going to hell, I took a specially keen interest in it. And I could not disagree with its major premise:
Seemingly rational people are naming their kids Baylynn, and Daxx, and Nirvana. Ethans are becoming Aythans. Marys are becoming Jazzmins. Wannabe elitist parents keep trying to one-up each other, as if a uniquely horrible name serves as some kind of guarantee against little Aston Martin growing up to be merely ordinary. Soon we'll be staring down an army of Apples, and the entire country will collapse upon itself.
Now, I’m guessing that there aren’t many Jazzmins running around Catholic homeschool co-ops, or sitting in the front pew with mantillas on. But when it comes to baby-naming, we Catholics have our own temptations, and pitfalls to avoid. And so we need our own rules. Let me propose a few:
Haha, this is good.
HT Scotus
Happy Thanksgiving!
continue at Heritage FoundationThis Thursday, millions of families will celebrate Thanksgiving with roasted turkey, buttery mashed potatoes, and (with only a slight amount of guilt) another piece of pumpkin pie. But in early America, days of Thanksgiving weren’t always about food.
Reflecting American religious practice, Presidents and Congresses from the beginning of the republic have from time to time designated days of fasting and thanksgiving (the Thanksgiving holiday we continue to celebrate on the third Thursday of November was established by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War).
Following a resolution of Congress, President George Washington proclaimed Thursday the 26th of November 1789 a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” In setting aside a day for Thanksgiving, Washington established a non-sectarian tone for these devotions and stressed political, moral, and intellectual blessings that make self-government possible, in addition to personal and national repentance.
Although the First Amendment prevents Congress from establishing a religion or prohibiting its free exercise, Presidents, as well as Congress, have always recognized the American regard for sacred practices and beliefs.
Photo
Big Bang
Quoting Brandon Vogt: Fr. Georges Lemaitre, the first person to propose the Big Bang theory, is always my first answer to those who suggest religion and science are at odds.
Once at a conference after Fr. Lemaitre detailed his theory of the Big Bang, Einstein stood up, applauded, and said, "This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened."
Source
HT The Crescat
Modern Commentaries: Why I'm Catholic
I’ve talked pretty openly about my conversion story, but here it is again you’re unfamiliar with it. I was baptized and raised WELS Lutheran. I was confirmed in the WELS church when I was in 8th grade. Up until high school I went to services pretty regularly with my father, a life-long Lutheran, but I’d also attended Mass with my mother, a life-long Catholic. My brother and I were baptized Lutheran because my father was the regular church-goer. When I got into high school and college, my church attendance waned. I did, briefly, consider converting to Catholicism in high school but didn’t want to hurt my father’s feelings on the subject, so I put it on the backburner. I also stopped attending services at the church in which I grew up.continue at Modern Comments
In college, like most 18, 19, 20-somethings, I became pretty liberal both religiously and politically. I bought what my professors said about conservatives and Christians, and especially Catholics. They were backward, oppressive, stupid and unwilling to change, thus perpetuating a cycle of oppression and ignorance among followers. I think the low point was when I wrote a letter to USAToday blasting the Church for refusing to change the matter of the Eucharist to accomodate those with gluten intolerance (teaching says the Host used for consecration must be made of water and wheat flour, anything else renders it invalid).
Then I met Dave. In our initial discussions, he described himself as a “Papist”, which I learned meant Catholic. Well, I was okay with that because my mom was Catholic. But our discussions on faith and politics soon revealed a gulf between us – he was pretty conservative and orthodox; I was pretty liberal and heterodox. I was pro-choice, pro-contraception, feminist, in favor of gay marriage, and a believer in AGW and the platforms of the Democratic party.
Study answers why some Catholics stop attending Mass
The Catholic diocese in Trenton, N. J., wanted to find out why some parishioners stopped attending Mass, so it hired Villanova University researchers to conduct “exit interviews” with 298 lapsed parishioners.
The reasons people quit ranged from the personal (“the pastor who crowned himself king and looks down on all”) to the political (“eliminate the extreme conservative haranguing”) to the doctrinal (“don’t spend so much time on issues like homosexuality and birth control”), according to a story in The Star-Ledger of Newark.
In addition, the respondents didn’t like the church’s handling of the clergy sex abuse scandal and were upset that divorced and remarried Catholics are unwelcome at Mass.
+Dolan named cardinal
New York TimesArchbishop Timothy M. Dolan, who has led the Archdiocese of New York for nearly two years, was named a cardinal by the Vatican, the archdiocese announced on Friday.
Archbishop Dolan, who was named to succeed Cardinal Edward M. Egan in February 2009, is set to deliver a mass at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick on Friday morning and was expected to address the announcement.
He said in a statement Friday morning that he was “honored, humbled, and grateful” by his elevation to the top of the church hierarchy, just below the pope, in what is known by many in the church as “getting the red hat,” a reference to the broad-brimmed headgear worn by cardinals.
“It’s as if Pope Benedict is putting the red hat on top of the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty, or on home plate at Yankee Stadium; or on the spires of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral or any of our other parish churches,” he said. He said becoming cardinal was not about himself but “about an affirmation of love from the Pope to a celebrated archdiocese and community.”
St. Martin of Tours, ora pro nobis!
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| Entry of St. Martin into Amiens |
As you know, Veterans Day is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. In other countries, the day is celebrated as Armistice Day. It recalls the ending of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.Canterbury Tales
However, there is a deeper, Catholic meaning to November 11. This day is the feast of Saint Martin (c. 316 – 397) - that godly hermit and bishop who had once been a soldier. Martin laid down the sword in order to live a life of peace and penance under the gentle yoke of Jesus Christ. St Martin is Europe's chief example of the transition from soldier to saint; from war to peace.
Traditionally, November 11 had previously served as a day of signing peace treaties in honor of Saint Martin. Thus, it was fitting to end Europe's Great War on this same day - the festival of Saint Martin of Tours.
So there's a little Catholic history for you to share at the water-cooler or at your next cocktail party. Saint Martin is the ultimate veteran - a veteran from Christ.
I was wondering how St. Martin and Veterans Day ended up on the same day. That explains it! By the way, Canterbury Tales is a great blog to follow.
My grandpa on my mom's side was Marine and a Korean War vet. Requiescat in pace.
Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, ora pro nobis!
Born 9 years after the death of Isaac Jogues in the same area of his martyrdom, Kateri Tekakwitha is the first person born in North America to be beatified (she hasn't yet been canonized as a saint). She was the daughter of a Mohawk warrior and a Christian Algonquin woman. Moved by French missionaries, she converted to Christianity and lived a life of austerity and often practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation.Flickr: *Jeff*
This icon is in the Visitor's Center at the new Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe just south of LaCrosse, WI.
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