The Catholic Spectator

  1. Change Is In The Air

    February 26, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “The Vatican is poised to introduce stricter norms on Roman Catholic Mass, including halting the taking of communion in the hand and setting a time limit for homilies, an Italian newspaper reported Monday. Turin-based daily La Stampa quoted senior Vatican official, Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don saying the move was necessary to eliminate ‘extravagancies’ that have crept into Mass celebrations.” From a February 25 article in the Earth Times

    Liberals should be bracing themselves for the many reforms that are in the works under His Holiness, Benedict XVI. The cafeteria is slowly closing and liberals will soon find themselves discredited.

    The liberal agenda attempted to reinvent the Church and promised us a new springtime. Instead they brought the Church to Her knees and drove out a vast multitude of people. Now, thankfully, that era is passing.

    Of course the liberals will not let go without a fight. They still control many of the chanceries and raw power will be their antidote to reform. Fortunately, they will not prevail.

    The Pope needs our prayers now more than ever. He is fighting a lonely battle within the Church. Many of the wolves will be working to neutralize him. Pray for him and pray for our Church. God bless our Pope.

  2. Public Relations Disaster Continues

    February 16, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    About 50 supporters of Catholic education gathered in front of the Cathedral yesterday to voice their frustration over the closing of 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County. The site of the protest was a bit ironic as it took place across the street from the former Sacred Heart elementary school which was closed down only several years ago. That building is now being leased by the City of Rochester School District. Many in the crowd were wondering if their school buildings would also be leased or sold to secular institutions. There was some speculation that this possibility may be the unspoken agenda behind at least some of the school closings.

    One of the key points of frustration for the protesters is the lack of information regarding the decision making process surrounding the closings. The plan was contrived behind closed doors and no one from the diocese seems especially anxious to share information about the process with the Catholic faithful.

    In this era of Vatican II, it seems particularly egregious for the diocese to be so secretive and paternalistic. We are constantly told that this is the age of the laity but this process has made a mockery of that claim. Treating adults like children would certainly not seem to be in keeping with Vatican II.

    Another concern expressed by the protesters is the uncertainty over the fate of their children in September. There appears to be no organized registration process that can assure parents of their child’s placement for next year. The diocese will not even assure them that there is enough space available at the remaining schools for the displaced students.

    It may be that the diocese is counting on a low rate of re-enrollment for the displaced students in order to make their plan functional. Their projection of only about 1,000 students re-enrolling may be wishful thinking on their part. If all 2,000 displaced students re-enroll then there may not be enough room for all of them at the remaining schools. If there is enough room, then who knows how far they will have to travel to get back and forth to school. And all this in the midst of a diocesan campaign about climate change. Does busing students all over Monroe County really make sense when the diocese is telling us about the dangers of burning fossil fuels?

    Hopefully these abused parents will not give up their fight. At the very least, they should be given detailed information about the criteria that was used in the selection of these 13 schools for closure. If they don’t, then rest assured that this pattern of deconstruction will be repeated several years down the road.

    It is not too late to take a stand. The doors of secrecy should be pried open to let in the light of day. Treat these faithful Catholics like adults-in the Spirit of Vatican II.

  3. Ten Questions

    February 16, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    Following are 10 questions about the Catholic school crisis that deserve an honest answer:

    1. Why is the rate of decline in Catholic school enrollment in Rochester almost 3 times the national average? In the last 10 years the rate of decline has been about 17% nationally. In Rochester it has been about 45%.

    2. How could this dramatic decline in Rochester have happened in light of the $25,000,000 cash infusion by the Wegman family over that same period of time?

    3. Why does the diocese have to keep coming up with a new plan for saving the schools every few years? Why do these plans keep failing?

    4. Why can’t the schools be returned to local parish control? The diocese has shown that it is incapable or unwilling to sustain the school system. Could the parishes do any worse?

    5. Wouldn’t returning the schools to local control result in a substantial financial savings for the diocese? Wouldn’t this enable the diocese to eliminate the bureaucratic positions of people in the central office who don’t seem capable of running the system productively?

    6. Why did parents only get to have substantial input into the process after the plan had already been formulated?

    7. Why was their input given such short shrift once it was received? Was the diocese really able to thoroughly investigate the various parish based proposals in just 1-2 weeks?

    8. Why is it continually implied by some in the the diocese that Catholic schools are really a relic of another era? We continually hear that the schools were established to serve immigrant populations in the last century. In light of the secular humanistic agenda of our government run schools today isn’t a Catholic education more valuable than ever?

    9. How much pledge money has been withdrawn from the current CMA campaign in protest of the closings? Will the diocese now have a financial crisis in their general budget because of the mismanagement of the school system?

    10. Why won’t the diocese conduct an open public forum or forums in order to let the faithful articulate their concerns over this mismanagement?

  4. Ten More Years?

    February 15, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “I really doubt you’ll see any parochial schools here 10 years from now.” Timothy Thibodeau, history professor at Nazareth College, in Wednesday’s Ithaca Times

  5. Be Careful Who You Hang Out With

    February 15, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “And you guys wonder why there’s violence. You guys wonder why. You wonder why a guy go[sic] into Missouri and shoot some (expletive) body.” Assemblyman David Gantt at Tuesday night’s meeting of the County Legislature

    David Gantt appears to be the ring leader of an increasingly hostile and aggressive group of radicals who keep trying to disrupt the lawful proceedings of county government. The first disruption occurred on January 17 when this group became unruly and disruptive at a meeting of the legislature’s Public Safety Committee. At that meeting a man identifying himself as a “representative of the bishop of Rochester” refused lawful requests to leave the legislature chambers.

    At the most recent disruption this same representative had to be escorted out of the chambers by two sheriff’s deputies because he refused to stop speaking at the end of his allotted time. Sister Grace, a Sister of Mercy, also got into the act and was arrested at this same meeting.

    Why is it that diocesan “representatives” are affiliated with some of the most radical political elements in our local community? Why do these people participate in a demonstration in which gun violence is implicitly threatened by one of their leaders? Why aren’t these leaders publicly rebuked when they speak so recklessly and provocatively?

    If our representatives really want a just society then they ought to spend some time in front of one of our local baby killing facilities. Maybe they could even bring along some of their radical friends. But please, leave your threats at home.

  6. Disgusted And Embarassed

    February 13, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “We are all disgusted and we are so embarrassed by our Catholic diocese right now,” said Michele Smits of Rochester, whose two daughters attend Holy Cross School in Charlotte. Democrat and Chronicle, 2/13

    The diocesan decision to close 13 Catholic schools in Monroe County would make a perfect case study in the art of antagonization and alienation.

    First the diocese decided to shutter 13 schools with very limited parental input. Then they raised false hopes after the plan was made public by giving the impression that alternative plans would be considered. Finally they dashed those hopes by flat out refusing to to modify the original plan even though many of the schools had come up with viable alternatives. The diocesan obstinance was so rigid that even Father Wheeland of Holy Cross went public with his frustration.

    This clumsy school closing process has been an eye opener for many who have never before encountered the diocesan monolith. Many of those who have gone through parish clustering had already been educated on the sometimes callous and deceptive nature of diocesan committees.

    The usual format involves a decision making process that is cloistered in secrecy. Once the plan is made public then parishioners are allowed to have input in the belief that the plan can be modified. The clustering committees then go through the charade of considering the input from the average person in the pew. The committee then rejects the proposed modifications and ratifies the original plan. Oftentimes it is later discovered that the plan was preconceived months or even years in advance.

    This is how government bureaucracies operate. Faithful Catholics deserve better.

    2/11/08

  7. Not All Will Be Equal

    February 11, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “We believe in this resurrection of the flesh, in which not all will be equal. It is common to think today: whatever is sin, God is magnificent, he knows us, therefore sin does not matter, in the end God will be nice with everyone. It is a beautiful hope. Yet, there is justice, and there is true guilt. Those who have destroyed man and earth cannot suddenly sit beside their victims at the table of God. God creates justice. We must have this present.” Pope Benedict XVI

  8. Call To Conversion

    February 9, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “We are limited creatures, sinners in constant need of penance and conversion. How important it is, in our own time, to listen to and accept this call! When he proclaims his complete autonomy from God, modern man becomes self-enslaved, and often finds himself tormented and alone. The call to conversion is, then, an encouragement to return to the arms of God the tender and merciful Father, to trust in Him, and to entrust ourselves to Him as adoptive children regenerated by His love.” Pope Benedict XVI

  9. Two Bishops, Two Viewpoints

    February 7, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “Catholic schools-in McQuaid’s point of view at least-were meant to help our immigrant population adjust to life in the United States and, at the same time, to preserve their faith tradition in a civic environment that wasn’t always friendly to Catholics. That environmental issue has changed over the years. Catholics are pretty well integrated into American society right now, and whereas a parent might once have sent a child to Catholic school to preserve the faith and to protect them from the incivility of culture, that doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore…” Bishop Matthew Clark in the February issue of the Catholic Courier

    “The lesson here for American Catholics is this: For more than forty years, we’ve worked to integrate, accommodate, and assimilate to American society in the belief that a truly diverse public square would have room for authentically Catholic life and faith. We need to revisit that assumption. It turns out that nobody gets anything for free. If we want to influence, or even have room to breathe in the American environment of coming generations, we’ll need to work for it and fight for it-always in a spirit of justice and charity, but also vigorously and without apology. Anyone who still has an easy confidence about the Catholic ‘place’ in American life had better wake up.” Archbishop Charles Chaput in the February edition of First Things

  10. Two Bishops, Two Viewpoints

    February 7, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “Catholic schools-in McQuaid’s point of view at least-were meant to help our immigrant population adjust to life in the United States and, at the same time, to preserve their faith tradition in a civic environment that wasn’t always friendly to Catholics. That environmental issue has changed over the years. Catholics are pretty well integrated into American society right now, and whereas a parent might once have sent a child to Catholic school to preserve the faith and to protect them from the incivility of culture, that doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore…” -Bishop Matthew Clark in the February issue of the Catholic Courier

    “The lesson here for American Catholics is this: For more than forty years, we’ve worked to integrate, accommodate, and assimilate to American society in the belief that a truly diverse public square would have room for authentically Catholic life and faith. We need to revisit that assumption. It turns out that nobody gets anything for free. If we want to influence, or even have room to breathe in the American environment of coming generations, we’ll need to work for it and fight for it-always in a spirit of justice and charity, but also vigorously and without apology. Anyone who still has an easy confidence about the Catholic ‘place’ in American life had better wake up.” -Archbishop Charles Chaput in the February edition of First Things

  11. Conspiracy Theory

    February 5, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “There is a small but powerful and determined group within the Vatican who have never accepted the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council and Pope Paul VI.” Father Richard McBrien in his February 1 column.

    Truth is that Father McBrien and his like minded liberals have squandered their careers trying to convince us that the council authorized every abuse imaginable. Now these aging liberals are grasping at straws as they enter their twilight years and slowly come to the realization that they have lost. Apparently the best they can do is to try and convince us that conspirators are at work within the Vatican. How pathetic, yet how appropriate.

  12. Climate Change Trumps Baby Killing

    February 2, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    “As someone who lived under communism for most of my life I feel obliged to say that the biggest threat to freedom, democracy, the market economy and prosperity at the beginning of the 21st century is not communism or its various softer variants. Communism was replaced by the threat of ambitious environmentalism…The so-called climate change and especially man-made climate change has become one of the most dangerous arguments aimed at distorting human efforts and public policies in the whole world.” Czech President Vaclav Klaus

    “Right now, the mass media, politicians, many church figures, and the public generally seem to have embraced even the wilder claims about man-made climate change as if they constituted a new religion…In the 1970s some scientists were predicting a new ice age because of global cooling…It is true that some of the more hysterical and extreme claims about global warming appear symptomatic of a pagan emptiness…Perhaps they’re looking for a cause that is almost a substitute for religion…In the past pagans sacrificed animals and even humans in vain attempts to placate capricious and cruel gods. Today they demand a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions…Radical environmentalists are more than up to the task of moralizing their own agenda and imposing it on people through fear. They don’t need church leaders to help them with this, although it is a very effective way of further muting Christian witness… Church leaders in particular should be allergic to nonsense.” Cardinal Pell in Catholic World Report

    Tomorrow is the DOR’s Public Policy Sunday. We will be asked to sign petitions requesting that NYS direct money from emissions allowances to various energy initiatives. Last year it was petitions for universal child health insurance. When will the diocese’s Public Policy Committee circulate petitions calling for an end to abortion and embryonic stem cell research?

    In the meantime I would suggest that people write on the petitions: “Make abortion the #1 priority of the PPC!”. Or people could write: “Church leaders in particular should be allergic to nonsense!”.

  13. The Crisis In Catholicism

    February 1, 2008 by Eugene Michael

    In 2003, researchers tested American Catholics’ views on the Catholic Church and other religions. Some results: 86 percent agreed with the statement “If you believe in God, it doesn’t really matter which religion you belong to”; 74 percent said yes to “The major world religions are equally good ways of finding ultimate truth”; and 52 percent accepted the proposition, “The Catholic religion has no more spiritual truth than other major religions.” From column by Russell Shaw in February’s Catholic World Report