open book

Scheduling Conflict?

From Toledo

The monthly prayer session at Our Lady of Toledo Shrine, 655 South Coy Rd., Oregon, will start at 2 p.m. Aug. 7, but there will be no apparition of the Virgin Mary, according to a spokesman.

Instead, a prayer service will start at 11:30 p.m. Aug. 15 with an apparition anticipated at midnight for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Shrine-goers are advised to bring a chair and arrive by 11:15 p.m.; all lights will be turned out when prayers begin at 11:30 p.m.

Arinze on the go..

In Rhode Island this weekend before he goes back to Rome.

Cardinal Arinze, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacramental Discipline, is often mentioned as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II. He is in Rhode Island this weekend at the invitation of the state's fledgling African-Catholic community....

But last night, Cardinal Arinze's attention was on Angelo Rosati, a retired art history professor from Rhode Island College who, at age 84, may be more widely known in Europe than in the Ocean State.

....Although the 71-year-old Cardinal Arinze made headlines three months ago when he told reporters at a news conference in Rome that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion, he declined yesterday to answer any questions from reporters on that or any other subject. "Why should I answer your questions?" he said.

What makes space sacred?

An interesting conference here in Indiana - down in Columbus.

The connection between design and devotion is being studied by a group of clerics, neuroscientists and architects who are trying to understand how the mind reacts to the sensations of entering a house of worship. The result, they hope, will be better designs that enhance the meeting of the sacred and earthly. When the setting is a synagogue or a cathedral, the way it looks or sounds can enhance or diminish the worship experience. ..

Columbus architect Nolan Bingham said at the meeting how tears had welled in the eyes of a Jewish woman as she walked into a house of prayer outside her own tradition, the city's landmark North Christian Church. Built by Eero Saarinen, better known for the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, it conveys "sacred space" as few other places can, with a roof that appears to float on air and a spire that soars 192 feet.
When asked why she was crying, the woman could not explain it, Mr. Bingham said.
"That's what I want to know," Mr. Bingham said. "There is not an easy answer for that. How do you find that thing?"

Via The Revealer.

Too much faith?

From a reader:

Kerry made this statement in his convention speech:

"And let me say it plainly: in that cause, and in this campaign, we welcome people of faith. America is not us and them. I think of what Ron Reagan said of his father a few weeks ago, and I want to say this to you tonight: I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country."

Democrats clearly believe that Bush's religion "goes too far". Does it? It would be a great discussion topic.

Knights in Dallas

From Rod Dreher:

The Knights of Columbus are gathering in a few days here in Dallas for their annual convention, which is expected to draw 13 cardinals and over 60 bishops. This morning, the Dallas Morning News editorial board met with Carl Anderson, the KC Supreme Knight.

We had a few questions for him, and his answers might be of interest to your readers.

I asked Mr. Anderson if the rumor was true that the Vatican had instructed the KC not to take any disciplinary action against pro-choice Catholic politicians who are members of the KC. "The Vatican hasn't told us anything about that," he replied. I asked him if the KC leadership, then, could be expected to take disciplinary action against such politicians. He replied that the KC tradition is to stay out of politics.

I asked Mr. Anderson if, given the tremendous work and money the organization provides to the institutional Church, the KCs have used their influence with the American bishops to promote reform in the wake of the scandal. He said that in April 2002, they circulated a position paper to the US bishops and the Roman Curia letting them know that the KC believes in zero tolerance, that they want it vigorously enforced. The discussion moved into the public role the organization has taken in the scandal.

Mr. Anderson pointed to "In Solidarity With Our Bishops and Priests," a program the KCs launched to "rally Catholics around our bishops and priests" as a response to the events in Boston and beyond. I told him I'd heard from an official at a local KC chapter who told me that he was ordered by his superiors in the group to sign a public declaration of support for his bishop, despite his protests. That man told me he thought his bishop had done a bad job of handling the scandal in that diocese, and that his conscience couldn't allow him to put his name on a declaration of "solidarity" he didn't believe in. How do you respond to that? I asked.

Mr. Anderson replied that no KC should feel compelled to violate his conscience, but that the organization has a "tradition" of not criticizing pastors or bishops. I asked him if this was a tradition, or a formal policy. He said it was a tradition.

A colleague asked about the vocations crisis, and what the KCs were doing to help address it. Mr. Anderson said, "I see it as a tremendous time of spiritual renewal and growth since the Second Vatican Council. ... I think there's this tremendous time of renewal going on." He added that John Paul II has set up lots of new initiatives and programs for renewal. He said, "Our role, I think, is to support where those initiatives are being carried out, and maybe not support where those initiatives are not being carried out."

I asked him about the KCs continued support of Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn (ret.), who has been the KC national chaplain for many years, in light of Bishop Daily's leading role in the scandal in Boston and elsewhere under his leadership. Mr. Anderson replied: "I consider him one of the great priests I've met. He is a fine priest and I'll trust him in a heartbeat. He added, "He has served the Knights of Columbus with a tremendous dedication. He loves the order. The men love him."

I'm interested to read your readers' reactions to this, particularly the views of readers who are Knights of Columbus.

A related story

Things I see...

..on my daily walk around Foster Park.

(A large public park across the street with a golf course and many walking paths, including byways connecting to other major parks in the city via a greenway)

....there are ballfields down on one end of the park. One day, amid the other cars lining that part of the road, there stood a horse trailer, complete with horse, sticking his head out one of the windows. The trailer was hitched to a pickup, stacked high with bales of hay, just a few feet out of the horse's reach. He was quite frustrated.

....another day, same road, just as many cars. In one sat a man, waiting, I suppose, for his charge engaged out on the field. As I approached, I heard a voice. He was reading the Bible aloud - loudly. I don't know if that was the norm, or if he just raised his voice for my benefit.

....even a year ago, I used to see police on horseback patrolling in the area close to the woods, especially if I walked around noontime. Looking for pleasure-seekers, I assume. I don't see them anymore - either they've driven the seekers elsewhere or the horses were needed elsewhere.

....if I walk around 9, I usually see an older man with two hooked prothesis replacing his lower arms, jogging steadily along.

....if I don't get out until 11, I will probably run into the strangest character of all. Nancy has either written about him (?) or spoken about him. I can't remember. He's either a transsexual who should sue his doctor or the most carefree transvestite ever, who has impressive cleavage, and a very bad wig. He/she speeds by on a bike, and we always greet each other, and I always wonder.

....this past Sunday, a saxophonist practiced "Danny Boy" all alone in one of the picnic pavilions.

....weddings. There's a wedding garden, and it's booked solid. Apparently the latest fad is to rent out one of the local busses that is fashioned to look like a trolley car, and have everyone in the wedding party ride it from some gathering place to the location of the ceremony, with bride and groom, standing at the back, waving at onlookers. This past Saturday, I think, I saw them coming as I went one way, and by the time I returned, the limousines for the ride back were parked, ready to go - two Cadillac Escalade stretch limos. I think that particular party spent more on transportation to and from their wedding than Michael and I spent on our entire wedding, put together.

More Amish

From Christianity Today.

Meanwhile, I think all sensitive Americans have been troubled by the dark side of modernity. So it will be salutary if this TV series—whatever it does or does not reveal in its limited format—leads us to look in the "mirror of the Amish" and question ourselves. Will it do this? Just enough, I'll wager, to send seekers to Lancaster County and other enclaves to see whether maybe, just maybe, they can find the Really Real by joining the ranks (fewer than 100 strong) of "converts" to the Amish.

Darfur Crisis

Two notes on the Holy See's attention to the region,

In The Word From Rome

In recent days, John Paul dispatched Archbishop Josef Cordes, a German who heads the papal charitable agency Cor Unum, to Sudan. His mission is to focus a spotlight on the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region, located on Sudan's Western border with Chad. Some one million people have been driven into settlements inside Darfur by the government-allied Arab Janjaweed militias, while around 110,000 people have fled to Chad. Cordes' intervention, it should be noted, is not a matter of Christians coming to the aid of their own. The black Africans under assault in Darfur are, like their Arab attackers, predominantly Muslim.

And from The Tablet

Three days earlier the Pope had sent Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, to Darfur as his personal representative because of his “great concern” over what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Archbishop Cordes coordinates Vatican aid worldwide.

Winding up his five-day mission on Monday, the archbishop said he had found conditions “indescribable” in the Kalma refugee camp. Aid officials have said that some 100 displaced persons, eight of them children, die there each day of malnutrition.

However, the Pope spoke first of Uganda. He noted that the Lord’s Resistance Army has been uprooting millions of people and depriving children of “any future” by kidnapping them and enlisting them as soldiers.

“I appeal to the international community and to national political leaders to put an end to this tragic conflict and to offer a real prospect of peace to the entire Ugandan nation,” John Paul II said.

“Equally worrying”, he said, is the situation in western Sudan. Attacks by the Arab Janjaweed militia, which is backed by the Khartoum Government, have forced more than a million African Sudanese to flee their villages, bringing “desperation and death” to the region.

And then a CNS update on the situation

Word From Rome

John Allen on various matters, including reactions to his recent reporting on Opus Dei subjects, which have drawn criticism from both sides - those who think he's too kind, and those who think he's reflexively critical.

Perhaps it will help put things in context if I explain that I am writing a book on Opus Dei for Doubleday, the publisher of my last two books Conclave and All the Pope's Men. Part of the impetus for the project comes from the success of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code, and the enormous curiosity about Opus Dei it has helped create.

My aim is to produce a book that is journalistically serious, reliable, and balanced. The book will strive to explain Opus Dei's structure and spirituality, and to separate fact from fiction with regard to issues such as recruiting, spiritual practices, secrecy and finances. It will be an outsider's work, since I am not a member of Opus Dei and have no special connection to it. Research for the book is why in recent weeks I've traveled at my own expense in Spain and Peru, as well as the United States, visiting Opus Dei sites and talking to both friends and foes.

I have been to Madrid to meet with Alberto Moncado, for example, an ex-member of Opus Dei and perhaps the leading Spanish-language critic of the organization. I have been to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to meet with the leaders of the "Opus Dei Awareness Network," or ODAN, another critical voice. While I was in Peru, I met with Jesuits who feel Opus Dei has sabotaged their social justice advocacy. I've also met conservative Catholics who criticize Opus Dei on other grounds. All this by way of saying I am not just taking the guided tour, and the book will reflect all points of view.

Also, on the Austrian seminary scandal and what some say is Padre Pio's role in the release of Italian hostages in Iraq:

On June 23, all three men, accompanied by their families, made a pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo, the chief national shrine to Padre Pio, in order to give thanks to the Capuchin saint, who was famed for such marks of holiness as the stigmata, the "odor of sanctity," and bi-location. The three told reporters they had prayed to Padre Pio during their captivity and promised to make this pilgrimage if they survived.

"I'm very devoted to Padre Pio and I prayed often during our imprisonment," Cupertino said. "They too," pointing to Agliana and Stefio, "were united with me in prayer because they know Padre Pio."

Divine Providence

Confronting the intersection of divine and human will...I was a bit startled by this paragraph in a piece by Michael Novak on NRO today

Finally, there is the matter of faith, even of the sort Tom Paine showed in 1776. Paine was no Christian, but he did believe that God had created this vast and splendid universe in order to share His friendship with free women and free men, and for this reason the Creator put freedom at the core of things. Tom Paine had no tolerance for the Bible, and less for Biblical fundamentalists, but he was not so much an atheist, he wrote, as to believe that the Almighty Who made the universe for liberty would allow the cause of people willing to die for it to come to naught. Paine couldn't bring himself to believe that God would favor George III.

In that same spirit, I find it hard to believe that the Creator who gave us liberty will ignore President Bush's willingness to sacrifice his own presidency for the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq — their 50 million citizens, and perhaps their progeny for ages to come. A kind of cosmic justice (which does not always materialize, I recognize) calls for vindication. Especially when the president has been so unfairly calumniated by his foes, domestic and foreign.