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Do you want to know what the Pope did today?

Go to American Papist. He's got it all - texts, news stories, photos.

A very busy day - the Divine Liturgy, a visit with the Armenian Patriarch, the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan, the Grand Rabbi of Turkey and the er...Catholics.

We pray he is sleeping well tonight. Tomorrow he offers Mass at Holy Spirit Cathedral and heads back to Rome.

At PRF, Teresa reports on a scene that hasn't appeared on the wires yet:

Here's the korazym account, translated:

20:30
An encounter with Catholic youths - leaning out the winow of the Apostolic Nunciature, and remaining there for five long minutes as 500 Catholic youths, almost all from Istanbul, sang and prayed.

It was an event of great simplicity - with the Pope smiling and later giving them his blessing.

The young people had prepared this prayer rally with songs, psalms and prayers - and so they did, for at least three-quarters of an hour in the gardens of the Nunciature.

Jubilation when the Pope showed himself, leaning out the window to be able to see them better. Later he told them that he would carry them always in his heart and would remember them every day in his prayers.

When the youths sang "Stay with us" in Turkish, he answered, "But the Lord is always with us."

Later, a delegation of less than hundred met him personally. They presented him with an album of photographs showing their activities in the past year - a walk for Catholic youths, the last Palm Sunday celebration (whichs wa also World Youth Day everywhere), their pilgrimage to Ephesus last summer, their various meetings at local level.

The album was accompanied by a letter from them telling him of their readiness to be witnesses for the faith even in the difficult conditions they have in Turkey.

More on China

Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong:

China installed a new bishop on Thursday over the objections of the Vatican, prompting Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Roman Catholic bishop of Hong Kong, to issue a blistering statement accusing mainland authorities of having threatened and kidnapped mainland clergy to make them participate in the ritual.

Cardinal Zen said late Thursday night that the ordination by the government-controlled church, which does not take the Vatican’s instructions, was more serious than China’s consecration of two bishops in the spring over Vatican protests, because the Holy See specifically warned the Chinese government then against ordaining any more bishops without approval.

The Vatican raised the prospect then of excommunicating Chinese priests who allowed themselves to be consecrated as bishops in defiance of Rome, although it has not done so.

Cardinal Zen, whom Pope Benedict XVI has granted considerable discretion to speak on issues involving the church on the mainland, also disclosed on Thursday the existence of a secret delegation from the Vatican to Beijing after the spring ordinations. The cardinal said the Chinese government had invited the delegation and had promised that it would not conduct any more ordinations without Vatican approval.

Hours before Cardinal Zen issued his statement, Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, held a news briefing in Beijing at which she urged the Vatican to view the consecration favorably. “We hope the Vatican side can take the history of China-Vatican relations and the current situation of the Chinese church into full account,” she said. Chinese officials were not available after Cardinal Zen spoke.

In Turkey

Robert Moynihan has been on the journey to Turkey, and has posted several pieces at Inside the Vatican.

Day 1

Day 2, on which he visits the the monastery at Halki, the site of the seminary, closed by the Turkish government.

As we take the boat back towards the great city, the sun sets, blazing red into the sea, and the lights of the city twinkle on against a blackening sky. I think of the story the Venerable Bede tells at the beginning of his Ecclesiatical History of the English People. He was left in a monastery in England after his parents died in a plague. One by one, the monks also died. Finally, he was alone, a small boy of seven, responding to the verses of the Psalms sung by the abbot, who was the only monk still living. And later, Bede wrote the history of the coming of the faith to England, our sole source for those 200 years of Church history. The monastery of Halki, the glory of the Orthodox world, has been reduced almost to that state. At Christmas, there will remain only three monks: the abbot Apostolos, the deacon Theodore, and the layman Elia, who has come here because he senses a calling.

Day 3 won't load

Day 4 - today.

Arty

There are several exhibits related to our areas of interest around the country. Add more to the comments if you know of them!

At the National Gallery, “Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych”. commented on by R.R. Reno at FT here:

This scene of divine love drawing the Godhead into the wrenching realities of suffering and death finds its complement in the depiction of St. Jerome. It is a medieval and renaissance commonplace to show the somber saint gazing at a skull, recalling the reality of death and judgment. The artist depicts this standard scene but turns St. Jerome’s head away from the skull and directs his gaze toward the scene of the Father receiving the dead Son. St. Jerome’s head is enlarged, his face is tensed, and the veins in his neck bulge. It is as if a vision of the eternal death of the Son so surpasses any thought of his own death that he is about to explode. In this way, St. Jerome seems to represent neither belief nor unbelief, neither joy nor sadness, neither hope nor despair. He is overwhelmed and undone by the mystery of a God who would enter so deeply into suffering and death in order to destroy it finally and completely.

At the Corcoran in DC, "Joan of Arc" , an exhibit partly underwritten by the Knights of Columbus - portions of the exhibit will be on display at the KofC headquarters in New Haven from May through November.

A WaPo look at the exhibit here.

The art of the Vatican mosaicists - in New Orleans from January to June 2007

And then, closer to home, In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite

Visit this extremely rare exhibition of 2,000-year-old Roman frescoes that have never before toured the United States. The exhibition consists of more than 70 works of art and artifacts recovered from five ancient Roman villas located in Stabiae, a resort community of lavish summer homes overlooking the Bay of Naples. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, buried Stabiae in ash and pumice, along with the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Although life in Stabiae was brought to an abrupt end, the treasures and luxurious living quarters were remarkably preserved.

Speaking of art, if it's your thing, and you're not visiting the Lion and the Cardinal regularly - change that. It's endlessly fascinating. The ongoing "Great Clocks of Christendom," Gaudi's sketch for a New York City skyscraper, a set of mosaics in a Japanese church made of ....butterfly wings.

Barring snowstorms

There's what we call "weather" coming our way, but at this point, I'm still planning to be in Chicago on Friday and Saturday for two talks:

Friday evening at 7:30, for the St. Mary of Angels Young Adult Group - I'll be speaking on Advent.

On Saturday, I'll be giving an Advent Women's Retreat at the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore in Chicago. I think the retreat required pre-registration, but you could call to make sure. In any case, I'll be there until 3 (but will be leaving right at 3), and I imagine if you stop by around lunch time, we can say hi.

Weather is a factor, of course - I'll post if anything changes.

Whose experience

Last week, NCR(eporter) published an editorial on the sexuality statements that came out of the USCCB meeting. The editorial's use of the term "breeding" prompted remarks here and there, since "breeding" and "breeder" are, in this culture, terms of derision used about people who dare to procreate, often used by certain elements of gay culture, in particular.  And not a term, dare we say, consistent with the profound valuation of fertility and children we find in, you know...Scripture.

At Mirror of Justice, Robert Araujo , SJ looks at the editorial:

But there are other elements of this editorial that also require more precision and greater clarity, and these get to the heart of what is likely the motivation for the editorial. When all is said and done, the authors of this editorial disagree with the teachings of the Church as taught by the bishops. Several times within their editorial, the authors refer to “science” and “human experience.” I, for one, would like to know what is the “science” upon which they rely to substantiate their disagreement with the bishops. Their assertion about and reliance on “science” stands in need of clarification.

But in the meantime, I will offer a thought on the allegation about “human experience.” “Human experience” and powerful political lobbying may lead to the decriminalization of certain actions in specified contexts. For example, abortion and adultery and other extra-marital sexual activity were once crimes; but now, in some instances at least, they are not. That does not mean that they are no longer sins. That is a matter for God, not “science” and not “human experience”, to decide. I think the editors who wrote this editorial could have been more clear on this point. Finally, I should comment on the editorial’s remark about the lives of the “faithful.” Each of us who considers one’s self as a member of the faithful is a sinner. But, as sinners, we have the ongoing ability to seek God’s forgiveness and to amend our lives and to sin no more, as the Church teaches us. This, too, is human experience, but it seems to be the type of human experience that does not merit comment in this editorial.

Greg Popcak with another response:

Both editorials criticize the Bishops for not listening to the lived experience of Catholics. I would like to resurrect a point we have discussed here before on the HMS Blog.

Specifically, even if only 5% of Catholics actually subscribe to Catholic teaching on Natural Family Planning (and there are some polls that dispute this), that amounts to about 3.5 million Catholics in the US alone.

If we were to view this segment of the faithful as its own religious denomination, it would be the 8th largest denomination in the country. It would rank higher than the PCUSA, and the ECUSA as well as Missouri Synod Lutherans, Assemblies of God, Greek Orthodox, and many others (see breakdown below from the 2004 NCC Yearbook--). Actually, considering the precipitous drop in numbers from some of the demoninations on the list since 2004, I wouldn't be surprised if the ranking of Catholics who are supportive of the church's teaching on sexual morality was even higher.

The simple fact is that the NCReporter and Commonweal editorials do not consider that the Bishops may very well have consulted plenty of married Catholics who do, in fact, live out the teachings on married love quite happily. I actually know several couples with whom they spoke.

A quieter story

One of the more interesting Catholic stories over the next couple of weeks involves ordinations.

On December 10, many eyes will be on Archbishop Milingo as (he claims)  he ordains three married men to the priesthood at the end of a conference on marriage and the priesthood in Parsippany, New Jersey. The link takes you to a press release from Milingo's organization. These ordinations will, of course, be valid. Illicit, but valid, because Milingo is, well, an Archbishop.

But will any journalists catch another story that would provide some interesing compare and contrast context to Milingo's actions?

For there will be other married men ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in December, but not by Milingo, and not illicitly.

Dwight Longenecker, former Anglican priest and married father of four, was ordained to the Roman Catholic diaconate yesterday for the Diocese of Charleston and will be ordained to the priesthood on 12/14 at St. Mary's in Greenville, South Carolina.

This Sunday, December 3rd, married former Anglican priest and blogger Al Kimel will be ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Any conversation about marriage and the RC priesthood prompted by Milingo has to take the Pastoral Provision into account, and in a serious way. For the interesting thing that will set the uninformed's heads spinning is that, of course, neither Bishop Baker nor Archbishop Myers are wild-eyed liberals. St. Mary's in Greenville is a vibrant parish, with a strong evangelistic mission, in which the Mass is celebrated in in a very traditional manner. Both Dwight and Al are vigorously orthodox, intellectual, and pastoral men - if you don't know about Dwight's books - check them out (my husband has worked on a couple of them as editor).

Dwight writes in the NCR(egister) on his ordination.

I can't help but think that the juxtaposition of these December ordinations poses fascinating questions and challenges from several different directions.

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Meanwhile in the PRC

The People's Republic of China, home of the 2008 Summer Olympics, is at it again, holding an ordination of a bishop unapproved by the Vatican and enticing and forcing bishops whose ordinations have been approved to take part:

Two bishops in Hebei province have been detained to force them to take part in the ordination of a bishop tomorrow in Xuzhou (Jiangsu) without the permission of the Holy See. The two bishops belong to the official Church but their ordinations were approved by the Vatican. They are Mgr Peter Feng Xinmao, ordained on January 3, 2004, as bishop coadjutor of Hengshui, and Mgr Li Liangui of Cangzhou (Xianxian), ordained in March 2000.

Source in Hebei told AsiaNews that the two bishops were driven away by officials from the Religious Affairs Bureau, ostensibly to check on some Church property in Hebei confiscated by the state in the past and that the two dioceses want back.

Instead of going to property’s location, the car went straight to Xuzhou where they are to be forced to take part in the ordination of Wang Renlei, scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8 am. At present it is impossible to get in touch with the them.

Other bishops expected to take part in the ceremony are in isolation and subjected to physical and psychological pressures. They are Mgr Joseph Zhao Fengchang, bishop of Liaocheng (Shandong) and Mgr Joseph Xu Honggen, bishop of Suzhou. They were both ordained with the permission of the Holy See.

Detaining bishops under duress is becoming the Chinese government’s only way to get bishops to attend unlawful ordinations (i.e. without Holy See’s blessing), because pastors in China’s official Church have stopped ordaining and are refusing to be ordained in the official Church without the Vatican’s permission.

From today:

A bishop abducted by the Religious Affairs Bureau to force him to participate in an Episcopal ordination not sanctioned by the Holy See was able to escape and is now in hiding until the ritual is performed. Mgr Li Liangui of Cangzhou (Xianxian) was detained along with Mgr Peter Feng Xinmao, bishop of Hengshui, and taken to Xuzhou (Jiangsu) to take part in the ordination of Fr Wang Renlei as bishop.

How to get that Pope Calendar

This blogger has the goods.

Commentary

From the NYSun:

If, as Turkey's senior Islamic official, Ali Bardakoglu, told the pope on his arrival, Islam is a religion of "vast tolerance" that rejects all violence and terror and "assumes that killing an innocent person is a heavy crime and sin," it is singularly extravagant of the Turkish government to assign an army of 15,000 security men to one frail old priest. How many divisions does it take to protect the pope?

If, as Mr. Bardakoglu also lectured the pope, it is "Islamophobic" to say that Islam "was spread over the world by the sword," why is it that almost all the major conflicts in the world today occur on the fault lines between Islam and other faiths? Even in Turkey, the most secular of Muslim countries, persecution has reduced the proportion of non-Muslims in the population from a majority in Byzantine times to less than 1% today. It is still a crime in Turkey to refer to the Armenian genocide. And it is still dangerous to be an observant Christian or Jew. Synagogues in Istanbul were attacked by Islamist terrorists in 1985 and 2003, killing scores and wounding hundreds of Turkey's tiny Jewish minority.

Benedict's Post-Secular Vision from the IHT by Phillip Blond and Adrian Pabst

The Pope, far from being sectarian, wants to inaugurate a new religious renaissance in Europe that opposes both secular and religious fundamentalism. This apostolic journey is of a piece with the logic of the Regensburg address, rather than a belated act of repentance for it.

Benedict opposes secularism because it is both absolute and arbitrary. In the name of being neutral with regard to values, secular ideology eliminates all rival world views from the public sphere. By denying the existence of objective moral truths, it elevates self- assertion as the measure of all things. Social life is reduced to the arbitration of conflicting self-interest — a process in which the most powerful always win.

Ultimately, this arbitrary absolutism produces a society ruled by an unholy alliance of utilitarian ethics and the proxy politics of the managerial class. This collusion destroys the very idea of common action and a binding collective discernment. Thus does the pope attribute the failure of Europe's common political project to the growing secularization of European culture.

Benedict's religious alternative is not some form of theocratic absolutism. On the contrary, the Pope is a staunch defender of secularity — the separation of church and state. Benedict wants to disentangle the church from the state, but without divorcing religion from politics, because only a religion freed from subservience to the state can save modern culture from itself.

Thus Benedict's true purpose in Turkey is that of uniting all the monotheistic faiths against a militant and self-consciously destructive secular culture. To that end he will seek a new political communion with Bartholomew I, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople — the symbolic leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians. Even the Russian Orthodox patriarch, Alexei II, who rejected overtures by the late Pope John Paul II, has indicated that he would now welcome talks with Rome.

Nor are the pope's attempts to produce a concerted monotheistic alliance restricted to Christians. On the first day of his visit, Benedict quoted an 11th century pope, Gregory VII, who talked about the duties that Christians and Muslims owe each other "because we believe in one God."

Far from being anti-Muslim, the pope views Islam as a key cultural ally against the enlightenment liberalism that for him corrodes the moral core of Western society.

It is important to realize, however, that Benedict recognizes a mutual problem in this explicit project of religious realignment around shared critiques and common discernment. Secular conceptions of race, state and nation have corrupted all the faiths, too often turning them into a vehicle for nationalism or racism.

Accordingly, the denunciation at Regensburg of scripturally authorized violence by Islam is wholly in line with Benedict's call to the faiths to abandon their respective perversions. Hence the papal demand Tuesday that all religions "utterly refuse to sanction recourse to violence as a legitimate expression of faith."

It is a genuine cause for celebration that Benedict seeks to make common cause with other universal faiths to confront an aggressively supremacist Western culture of forced unbelief and relentless consumerism.

American Papist is doing the heavy lifting on links and such - go check him out.