The Desperation Of The Jungle

This was brought to my attention in an email.  According to Tim Rohr:

Dear Kiko's

In May of 2009, the University of Notre Dame, the United States' most prestigious Catholic university, gave the most pro-abortion president in history an honorary degree. Kiko is in good company. 

http://www.junglewatch.info/2015/04/kiko-is-in-good-company.html

My response: 

Dear Jungle, 

You got your universities mixed up.  Kiko is receiving an honorary degree from the Catholic University of America (CUA), which is a private university in Washington DC.  It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops.  The initiators of the NCW is not receiving anything from the University of Notre Dame.    

The University of Notre Dame, on the other hand, is located in South Bend, Indiana.  The founder of the University of Notre Dame was Father Edward Sorin who also became the university's president.  Apparently, the jungle is so desperate that it purposely mention the University of Notre Dame to fool its readers into thinking that this was the university that will be awarding the honorary degree to the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way.  If the jungle truly cares about FACTS, then Tim Rohr should mention the CORRECT university.   

Regarding the Catholic University of America (taken from Wikipedia): 

It has been called one of the 25 most underrated colleges in America,^[6] one of the nation's best colleges by the Princeton Review,^[7] one of the best values of any private school in the country by Kiplinger's,^[8] "one of the most eco-friendly universities in the country,"^[9] was awarded the "highest federal recognition an institution can receive" for community service,^[10] and has been recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society in The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College.^[7]

CUA's programs  stays closely connected with the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations. The American Cardinals Dinner is put on by the residential U.S. cardinals each year to raise scholarship funds for CUA. The university has a long history of working with the Knights of Columbus; the university's law school and basilica have dedications to the involvement and support of the Knights.

The university has been visited twice by reigning Popes. Pope John Paul II visited on October 7, 1979.^[11] On April 16, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI gave an address on Catholic education and academic freedom on campus.^[12][13]

Since 1896, the Catholic University of America has conferred more than 300 honorary degrees. Recipients have come from virtually every walk of life – professors, poets, cops, kings, journalists, judges, bishops, and politicians.

Included among them are Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon Johnson; Rev. Mother (now Saint) Katharine Drexel, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, and Cardinals Francis Spellman, Stephen Wyszynski, George Basil Hume, and Luis Antonio Tagle.

All have made contributions to the Church and/or society that earned them this special recognition. 

Now in less than a month’s time, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez will be honored for their precious contribution to the Catholic Church. 

Yes, it is THIS University - the Catholic University of America - that have conferred honorary degrees to these renown people.  So, do not let the jungle fool you.  

From Tim Perez

“The Neocatechumenal Way does great good in the Church” - Pope Francis

It is so easy, really. We Catholics follow what the Pope says. And only last month, on March 6th to be precise, Pope Francis endorsed again, publicly and powerfully, the Neocatechumenal Way “I want to confirm your call, support your mission and bless your charism”. Can he be stronger and clearer?

On that day, Pope Francis thanked the Way’s initiators, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez who sat in the front row alongside Fr. Mario Pezzi and four cardinals (Vallini, Filoni, Rouco Varela and Cordes) “for the great benefit they bring to the Church through the Way”.

“I always say,” the Pope added amid warm applause, “that the Neocatechumenal Way does great good in the Church.”The Pope recalled how one of the fruits of the Way is the missio ad gentes, “formed by a priest and four or five families, with children including grown-up ones, … with a mandate to evangelize non-Christians. Non-Christians who’ve never heard about Jesus Christ and the many non-Christians who’ve forgotten who Jesus Christ was, who is Jesus Christ: baptized non-Christians but who have forgotten their faith because of secularization, worldliness and many other things. Re-awaken that faith!”

The Pope stressed that the Neocatechumenal Way is “a true gift of Providence to the Church of our time, as my predecessors have already stated. … It is based on the three dimensions of the Church which are the Word, Liturgy and Community. So obedient and constant listening to the Word of God; the Eucharistic celebration in small community after the first Vespers of Sunday, the family celebration of lauds on Sunday with all the children gathered round and sharing their faith with other brothers and sisters are at the origin of the many gifts the Lord has given to you as well as the many vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.”

Years before, Blessed Pope Paul VI saw the Neocatechumenal Way as a genuine fruit of the Council: "How much joy and how much hope you give us by your presence and by your activity... To live and to promote this re-awakening is what you call a way "after baptism", which will be able to renew in today's Christian communities those effects of maturity and deepening that, in the primitive Church, were realized by the period of preparation for Baptism.”  

Saint Pope John Paul II was even more explicit.   “Among the realities generated by the Spirit in our days, figure the Neocatechumenal Communities, initiated by Mr. K Argüello and Ms. C Hernandez (Madrid, Spain), the effectiveness of which for the renewal of Christian life was acclaimed by my predecessor, Paul VI.

“These Communities make visible in the parishes the sign of the missionary church and they strive to open a way for the evangelization of those who have almost abandoned theChristian life, offering them an itinerary of a catechumenal type which goes through all those stages that the catechumens went through in the primitive church before receiving the sacrament of Baptism: it brings them back to the Church and to Christ.”

“The announcement of the Gospel, the witnessing in small communities and the Eucharistic celebration in groups is that which enables the members to put themselves at the service of the renewal of the Church.”

“I acknowledge the Neocatechumenal Way as an itinerary of Catholic formation, valid for our society and for our times.”

Do the Popes sanction every ecclesial reality in these glowing terms? Obviously not.

Is Archbishop Apuron wrong in believing and promoting the Neocatechumenal Way in Guam? Again, the answer is a simple no. He is obeying the Pope. Since when is obeying the Pope wrong?

In 1990 Saint John Paul II recommended the Bishopsworldwide to endorse and assist the Neocatechumenal Way in their countries. “It is therefore my wish that the Brothers in the Episcopate - together with their presbyters - value and support  (italics are mine) this work for the new evangelization (referring specifically to the Neocatechumenal Way) so that it may be implemented according to the lines proposed by its initiators, in the spirit of service to the local Ordinary and in communion with him in the context of the unity of the local church and the universal Church.”

The Popes are clear. Let us follow their lead.

Tim Perez

Pago Bay

More Good News Pouring In

Good news keep flowing in…The Archdiocese of Washington ordained seven priests last year. Two of them came  from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Washington.   And to think that some people here want to destroy the Redemptoris Mater here in Guam. This is sheer craziness. Locura!!!!  News item from Archdiocese of Washington DC

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Deeply influenced by the devout Catholic faith of his mother and sisters while growing up in Honavar, India, Deacon Tony D’Souza, 33, began to consider the priesthood at the age of 10. “My mother continually encouraged us to love the Lord and to trust in His providence. When I was 16, I met the Neocatechumenal Way through which my faith matured and I could discern my vocation.” In 1999 he made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Francis Xavier in Goa, India, which helped him to further discern his vocation. D’Souza studied at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Bangalore, India, and the Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary in Hyattsville, Md. Fr. D’Souza will celebrate his first Mass on June 22, 2014, at 11 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Largo

 

 

 

Growing up in Oświęcim, Poland, Deacon Cezary Kozubek, 38, saw the dedication of many priests and lay people, including his parents, trying to preserve their Christian identity and freedom under a Communist regime. “Their genuine faith and the sacrifice of their lives attracted me and stirred a desire for looking for Christ in my life.” His search brought him to the Neocatechumenal Way where he participated in World Youth Day in Paris (1997), Rome (2000) and Cologne (2005). “Each time the vocational meetings with the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way in those places helped me to crystalize and publicly manifest my desires to become a priest.” After graduating from the University of Rzeszów, Kozubek was a science teacher in his native country before entering Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary. Fr. Kozubek will celebrate his first Mass on June 22, 2014, at 10 a.m. at St. Jerome Catholic Church in Hyattsville.

 

http://www.adw.org/2014/06/18/cardinal-wuerl-ordain-seven-men-priesthood/

Pope Francis With Two RMS Priests

 Pope Francis asked two of the new priests that he had just ordained at Saint Peter’s Basilica to join him at the window of the apostolic palace for the noontime Regina Coeli prayer and bless the crowd with him. This happened last Sunday April 26th when he ordained 19 new priests, nine of whom came from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rome.

Both priests are from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.   Father David Tisato is a thirty-one year old seminarian from the Redemptoris Mater of Rome and is originally from Chievo in northern Italy. Before joining the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, he was a promising professional soccer prayer.  The other priest is Father Elias.  Both are seen here with Pope Francis joining him in prayer and to bless the crowd.  :-) 

Imagine that!!  Of the 19 priests that Pope Francis ordained that day, the priests he asked to joined him at Saint Peter's Basilica were from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.  Biba for the RMS and Biba for the NCW!!!  :-)  More good news are on the way!! 

The story can be found here.  The video of the two RMS priests with the Pope can also be found in the weblink. 

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(Taken from Google translation)

" Who has the mission of leadership in the Church is called to take on the mentality of the manager but not that of the servant, in imitation of Jesus who, stripping himself, has saved us with his mercy.In this style of pastoral life of the Good Shepherd are called also the new priests of the diocese of Rome, I have had the joy of ordaining this morning in St. Peter's Basilica. And two of them will overlook to thank you for your prayers and to greet you . "
 

With these words yesterday Pope Francis presented to 50 thousand faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the Regina Coeli (which replaces the Angelus from Easter to Pentecost)two young men he had just ordained priests in the Basilica along with 17 other new priests.
 

It is the first time in history that a Pope invites two newly ordained priests to appear with him at the most famous window of Rome. The Ansa has called it an "unprecedented initiative" , and even the media and commentators have paid attention to 'unpublished fact. Why this change? RomaGiornale is able to "unlock" the delicious backstage , anything but planned and everything in style "Franciscan".
 

11:30 am on April 26, "Good Shepherd Sunday", and in St. Peter's Basilica has just ended the Mass of ordination of 19 seminarians at the hands of Pope Francis . The new priests, the Pope and the concelebrants are in the sacristy for the exchange of greetings, cards and the latest advice from the Pope. As Francesco ago to leave the sacristy, one of the neo-priests, Father David, the approaches with discretion and throws himself impetuously in a request to the limit of shamelessness: "Holiness, the gift would make two of us to be able to accompany the Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli?" . The Pope looks a little 'crowded out, but the answer is its pragmatic: " Yes, if there is room in the car. But you have to hurry to change you while you're still in the vestments. "
 

In no time at Don David and brother Don Elijah (trained at the Diocesan Seminary "Redemptoris Mater" of the Neocatechumenal Way) bless and greet friends and acquaintances and have suffered in the car with the Pope's secretary, Msgr. Georg Geinswein, direct from the Basilica to the Apostolic Palace. When you reach the elevator that leads to the upper floors the two are waiting for the Pope; certainly invite him to come first, but he does the same, and clearly worth more than the Pope's invitation. The two priests find themselves in a small lift tight between the Pope and his secretary.It is Francis broke the silence: "Of course you have a face ...". "A nerve, Holiness" ,concludes Don David. "Yeah, just a straight face - says the Pope - but you have to have this insistence in asking even with the Lord." "Like the importunate widow in the parable," gloss Don elias. "Exactly, like the importunate widow, "says the Pope.
 

Joints in the study overlooking the square , room assistants go to the Pope to drink, and he also runs his own glass to the two priests, who drink more and more skeptical about what they are experiencing. The Pope goes over the text to read from the window and gives unexpected provisions Don David and Don Elijah: "So, when I read this piece here, you are standing next to me and recite together the prayer" . The priests spend the minutes of the speech before the prayer wondering how best to keep clasped hands, but also pondering in their hearts to prepare for that moment so special.
 

Here come the words of the Pope for the two priests, overlooking heart pounding Square full of flags and banners . At the end of the play, at the time of the blessing, the Pope approaches to Don David and says, "Now bless you too." For the two neo-priests is the pinnacle of emotion: priests who are not from one hour poor and find themselves, to have had an instant flash of courage, to solemnly bless a crowd of 50 thousand faithful with the Holy Father at the Apostolic Palace.
 

Returning to the Casa Santa Marta Pope greets again the two new priests and inquiring about how to continue the day. Don David is almost tempted to tell whether by involvement of the Pope would be possible to steal an invitation to his table, but he remembers the family , friends and relatives who are waiting for him in the streets to celebrate with him and dare not over. For that day emotions enough already to remain indelible for the rest of life.

Pope Francis Ordains Men From Redemptoris Mater Seminary

An anonymous commenter related some good news this morning. 

AnonymousApril 27, 2015 at 11:18 PM

More good news… Pope Francis just two days ago ordained nine priests from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Rome. NINE, nine…

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis ordained 19 men to the priesthood for the diocese of Rome, on the day the Church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday and the 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This happened just two days ago.

Thirteen of these new priests were formed in the various diocesan seminaries in Rome. Nine of them were formed in the Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater in Rome, three in the Seminario Romano diocesan Major Seminary, one in the Madonna del Divino Amore Seminary.

“Keep always before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd,” the Pope said, “who came not to be served but to serve; not to stay in his comfort, but to go out to seek and save what was lost.”

And to think that here in Guam some people want to close the Redemptoris Mater. It is crazy!!!

The information can also be found in the following weblink: 

http://thechurchinmalta.org/en/posts/48738/pope-ordains-new-priests-for-diocese-of-rome

That was last Sunday.  On April 22, 2015, Pope Francis ordained 10 men, and some of them were also from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.  And here on Guam, the jungle not only wants to close down the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, but they even say that it is NOT a real seminary.  Perhaps, they should write a letter to the Pope and tell him how wrong he was in ordaining men who are not from a real seminary.  :-)   This information can be found in the following weblink: 

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-ordains-10-priests-tells-them-minister-with-constant-joy/

 

To the Anti-Neo commenter

To the anonymous commenter who wants his/her comments published containing all the negative things about the Way by quoting anti-Neo websites, I will not publish your comment.  There is another blog who will gladly publish all the anti-Neo websites that you quoted.  You can go to the jungle for that.  Furthermore, all the things that you wrote were already addressed on this blog. 

St. John Paul II Speech To The Way

John Paul II: visit to the parish of St Luke the Evangelist,

Rome 04/11/1979

Pope John Paul II to Neocatechumenal Way in San Luca parish in Rome 

Translated from the Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano, 5-6 November 1979.

The group or rather the Community is always formed from within, inside, and it is within that the Holy Spirit touches each one of us, what each one of us is, his personal intimacy, his spiritual intimacy, but it does not touch any of us separately, individually, because he created us to be community, to live in communion. He touches each of us to rebuild us in communion and this is how all these Communities within the Christian communion can be explained, Communities like yours, for there are five Communities. I think that there is a rule, a simple rule: to give, one must have something, not in a material sense, but in a spiritual sense. To give, you must have something inside that is not material, but spiritual, and this invisible thing must be discovered. I think that this is the rule of your Neocatechumenal Movement: it is about discovering, rediscovering what you have inside. There are many baptised Christians, but perhaps they have not discovered their baptism. They have almost forgotten their baptism. They are baptised people, their Baptism is in the documents, it is found in the parish registers, and is even registered in their hearts - but this interior registration is nearly dead, not awakened. It must be discovered! When you discover you have it, then you must give it. When you discover it, you cannot help but give it, because what you are discovering impels you to give it. In this way, all the Apostles were born, all the Apostles were born in this way, I think that if there are now itinerant catechists, if the Pope too has become itinerant, this is also a fruit he has discovered. Once you have discovered this richness, this mystery, this mystery of Christ, this mystery that makes up our own personal, spiritual and Christian identity, you cannot help trying to give it to others.. I am very happy with this meeting. I hope you will continue. To continue means to follow the Holy Spirit and to follow also your vocation. Discovering this 

Jennifer Roback Morse testimony to RI House Judiciary on marriage

The Age Of The Neocats (Part II)

Why is there such opposition to the Neocatechumenate? 
 
First of all, because there is opposition to all the movements from local bishops and clergy. This is nothing new: St Thomas Aquinas had to defend the Dominicans against the local clergy in Paris; after the Council of Trent bishops whose hearts were not in real reform and renewal did not want the Jesuits in their dioceses.

G K Chesterton noted that whenever there has "appeared, in Catholic history, a new and promising experiment, bolder or broader, more enlightened than existing routine, that movement" was always "upheld" by the papacy, while it was "naturally more or less negatively resisted by the bishops... [and] the clergy... Official oligarchies of that sort generally do resist reform."

Secondly, the Neocatechumenate is especially controversial because it operates within rather than externally to parishes. The main bone of contention is the Saturday evening Mass celebrated for a community or communities.

However, we already have children's and family Masses in parishes from which adults and single people are not excluded, nor have parishioners ever been excluded from Neocatechumenal Eucharists, contrary to popular rumour.

The statutes specifically state that these Eucharists are "part of the ordinary liturgical pastoral work of the parish and are open also to other faithful"; the same would be true of a Tridentine Mass.

They recognise that the Neocats are entitled to have a Mass in their own style, with a number of liturgical innovations (others that were originally permitted on an experimental basis have been disallowed), but it is open to all parishioners, and is no more divisive than a folk or Latin or Tridentine Mass is in a parish.

Anyway, Pope Benedict has firmly rejected the charge of divisiveness as the decisive criterion: "Faith remains a sword and may demand conflict for the sake of truth and love," he has said. And he also has condemned that "attitude of intellectual superiority that immediately brands the zeal of those seized by the Holy Spirit and their uninhibited faith with the anathema of fundamentalism", a charge regularly levelled at members of the Neocatechumenate.

At the time of the Council of Trent what the Church needed above all was a body of highly trained clergy: the charism of St Ignatius Loyola was provided by the Holy Spirit. In this post-conciliar time the greatest need is for baptised Catholics who are not merely sacramentalised but deeply formed in the faith: the Holy Spirit has given the Church the Neocatechumenate.

I believe that June 13, 2008, the day its statutes were formally approved, will be recognised as a significant date in the history of the Church.

Fr Ian Ker teaches theology at Oxford and is a parish priest 

http://www.catholic.org/news/international/europe/story.php?id=28614

The Age Of The Neocats (Part I)

The following was taken from an article from Catholic Online dated July 17, 2008.  This is only the first part of the article.  The second part will be posted tomorrow.
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LONDON, UK (Catholic Herald) - Throughout the western world the Church is declining. 
 
The most prominent exception to the general rule of decline is the rise and growth of the movements and communities described as "ecclesial" rather than "lay" by Pope John Paul II because they are open to all the baptised, whether lay, clerical, or religious, thus manifesting in concrete form the ecclesiology of organic communion that the Church recovered in Vatican II's Constitution of the Church.

Of the various new ecclesial movements the largest, fastest-growing, and most controversial is the Neocatechumenal Way, whose statutes were officially approved by the Holy See last week.

Ten years ago, in an important theological address on the ecclesial movements, Pope Benedict XVI stressed that in the matter of discerning new charisms in the Church bishops should respect the primacy of the Petrine office. He will now be expecting bishops hostile to the Neocatechumenate to respect that primacy.

In that same address in 1998 the present Pope spoke enthusiastically of how at the beginning of the 1970s he had "come into close contact with movements like the Neocatechumens, Communione e Liberazione, and the Focolarini and thus experienced the enthusiasm and verve with which they lived out their faith".

This was the time, he recalled, when "after the great upsurge of the Council, a frost seemed to set in instead of springtime". A year later Cardinal Ratzinger told a meeting of bishops that the first of the new ecclesial movements he had encountered was the Neocatechumenal Way and he had been "delighted" to discover this "new post-baptismal catechumenate" at a time when "the family and the school were no longer, as they had been in the past, places of initiation into the faith and into communion with Christ in the Church".

The Neocatechumenal Way began in 1963 when a young, talented Spanish painter called Kiko Arg�ello, who had had a conversion experience after a period of atheism as a student, returned for Christmas to his parents' house.

There he found the cook in tears in the kitchen. Spain was still a very poor country in the early 1960s, and Kiko learned that the woman lived with her drunken and abusive husband in one of the shanty towns on the outskirts of Madrid. Kiko visited the woman in the squalid shack where she lived.

Hearing what seemed like a call from God to leave everything, he went to stay with the family in their tiny kitchen. The scene of utter desolation in that slum so horrified him that, on completing his national service, he decided that in the event of the Second Coming he would want Christ to find him at the feet of the crucified Christ - namely, at the feet of the poorest of the poor.

His inspiration came from Charles de Foucauld: to live in silence at the feet of Christ crucified. He went to live himself in a shack in the shanty town, taking nothing with him except his Bible and guitar. The slum-dwellers were curious as to who he was and why he was there.

They discovered he was a Christian and began to ask him questions about the Gospel. The group that gathered round him in 1963 were the first community of what was to become the Neocatechumenal Way, and Kiko's talks to this group the first so-called "catechesis". At the same time he was joined by a young Spanish woman called Carmen Hern�ndez, who had just completed a theology degree at a missionary institute.

When the police began to pull down the shanty town Kiko appealed to the then Archbishop of Madrid, Mgr Casimiro Morcillo. Morcillo came to see for himself and was so impressed by the work Kiko and Carmen were doing that he invited them to begin the same catechesis in the parishes of Madrid. Subsequently, he gave them a letter of introduction to the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, who invited them to do the same in Rome.

The movement spread with extraordinary rapidity and as early as 1974 Pope Paul VI publicly hailed its members. He said: "Here we see post-conciliar fruits! ... How great is the joy, how great is the hope, which you give us with your presence and with your activity!"

Pope John Paul II enthusiastically supported the Way, resisting hostile pressure from within the Roman Curia as well as the local episcopate. And in 1987 he asked the movement to open a seminary in the diocese of Rome; today about half the ordinations for the diocese of Rome come from this Redemptoris Mater seminary, the first of the 70 that now exist worldwide, including one in the Westminster diocese.

So far 1,600 priests have been ordained from these seminaries, which have now about 2,000 seminarians. The movement itself has about a million members, excluding children, belonging to some 20,000 communities.

Research Regarding Same-Sex Marriage

There are compelling statistics from Europe and North America where same-sex marriage is legalized showing the negative impact it has on society.  Based on research and data from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and the United States, Dr. Patricia Morgan, the British family policy researcher, on behalf of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) concluded that (words written in black are mine): 

• as marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, this reinforces the idea that marriage is irrelevant to parenthood (As we have already seen on this blog, an anonymous commenter who supports gay marriages have stated that mothers and fathers are irrelevant.  That comment can be found here. )
• same-sex marriage leads to the casualisation of heterosexual unions and separation of marriage and parenthood
• Spain saw a pronounced acceleration in the decline of marriage following the introduction of same-sex marriage (same-sex marriage was introduced at the same time as the ‘express divorce bill’)
• across all countries analysed, no causal link has been established to support the idea that same-sex marriage prevents marital decline
• in the move to same-sex marriage, opposite-sex relationships have to conform to gay norms rather than vice-versa  (. In Canada, the concept of natural parent has been erased from law for the courts have ruled that a child could have three parents.   Sweden has also moved to eliminate the words ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ in return for one neutral word.) 
• a publicly-professed, legal, partnership does not prevent homosexual couples from breaking up more frequently than married heterosexual couples
• experience with same-sex partnerships/marriage legislation tends to suggest that availability is all, and participation more or less irrelevant to sexual minorities
• same-sex marriage may be the end-game of long-running anti-marriage, anti-family policy typified by Sweden
• same-sex marriage may begin the process of severing marriage from family in otherwise family-friendly societies such as Spain and the Netherlands
• same-sex marriage triggers dismemberment of family structures in family-friendly societies

https://www.spuc.org.uk/news/releases/2013/march02

The Truth About RMS Property

The following was taken from today's Umatuna:

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Archdoicese of Agana Statement

To dispel groundless rumors and in the service to the truth to the Catholic faithful of Guam, the Archdiocese of Agana has diligently taken steps to clarify the canonical and civil status of the property housing the Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary Redemptoris Mater and the Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Theological Institute for Oceania.  Therefore, three reports related to the property on which both archdiocesan entities stand are available to the public by contacting the Chancery office in Hagatna (San Ramon Hill). 

First the Ownership Report - An ownership and encumbrance report was completed in 2014 by Pacific American Title, which confirms that the lots on which the seminary sits, identifies the owner as the Archbishop of Agana.  Therefore, contrary to rumors, the title deed has always remained in the hands of the Archdiocese [1]. 

Second, the Civil Law Report - The law firm of Lewis Roca Rothgerber LLP in Denver, Colorado, who is the most prominent firm specialized in establishing corporations sole in many Catholic dioceses in the U.S. and in civil-religious issues related to corporation soles, was asked a legal opinion on the Archbishop's powers, as sole member of the seminary [2].  The opinion concluded the following: 

(a) Regarding the relationship between the Archbishop and the Board of Guarantors: "The corporate governance structure of Redemptoris Mater shows...that the Archbishop of Agana retains substantial authority over Redemptoris Mater, as the Archbishop is the sole member of the entity under civil incorporation laws, presides over the governing boads, has the power to appoint the governing boards, the power to amend the civil governing documents and is the Ordinary under canon law with specific authority over the entity as prescribed in the Canonical Statutes and under canon law." 

(b) Regarding the designation of the title deed for use by the Seminary and the Theological Institute: "The authority of the Archbishop over the entity, particularly with respect to the administration of real property, is a fundamental aspect of the canon law relationship between the Archbishop and Redemptoris Mater.  The method used by the Archbishop under civil law of conveying beneficial use of the Property to Redemptoris Mater while retaining legal title to the Property within the Archdiocese of Agana is consistent with canon law prescribed structures; is consistent with civil law methods widely used by numerous Catholic dioceses in the United States both historically and currently; and is a necessary civil law structure to reflect and enforce the Archbishop's powers of jurisdiction over Redemptoris Mater under the Code of Canon Law.  Absent the express approval of the Archbishop of Agana, neither Redemptoris Mater nor any governing board or other person affiliated with such entity has the civil power or authority to cause the transfer or sale of the property."  

(c) Conclusion:  "For those lawyers who regularly practice this specialized area of religious Institutions law, including the intersection of canon and secular law, the conclusion reached here that the Archbishop is in control of the property would not be at all controversial."  

Third, the Canon Law Report - The Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, which his the highest authority in the Catholic Church for interpreting the laws of the Church, was asked to provide a ruling on the land, building and title of the present Redemptoris Mater Seminary.  

The Pontifical Council concluded that there was no alienation of the property even if the Archbishop transferred the title of the property to the RMS Corporation because "based on what has been said, it seems...devoid of truth to speak of sale or alienation of a diocesan patrimony in this context...it is also clear that the present assignment of this patrimony to the Seminary does not make it a real" alienation because the owner remains the same, namely the diocese or the Archbishop." [3]

Conclusion:  What has been aforementioned demonstrates clearly that all rumors, opinions and writings contrary to the aforesaid documents are showing only slanderous intentions aiming to disturb the communion of the People of God with grave moral responsibility of the authors. 

Another Child Speaks Out

Dear Gay Community: Your kids are hurting.

I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.

Gay community, I am your daughter. My mom raised me with her same-sex partner back in the ’80s and ’90s. She and my dad were married for a little while. She knew she was gay before they got married, but things were different back then. That’s how I got here. It was complicated as you can imagine. She left him when I was two or three because she wanted a chance to be happy with someone she really loved: a woman.

My dad wasn’t a great guy, and after she left him he didn’t bother coming around anymore.

Do you remember that book, “Heather Has Two Mommies”? That was my life. My mom, her partner, and I lived in a cozy little house in the ‘burbs of a very liberal and open-minded area. Her partner treated me as if I was her own daughter. Along with my mom’s partner, I also inherited her tight-knit community of gay and lesbian friends. Or maybe they inherited me?

Either way, I still feel like gay people are my people. I’ve learned so much from you. You taught me how to be brave, especially when it is hard. You taught me empathy. You taught me how to listen. And how to dance. You taught me not be afraid of things that are different. And you taught me how to stand up for myself, even if that means I stand alone.

I’m writing to you because I’m letting myself out of the closet: I don’t support gay marriage. But it might not be for the reasons that you think.

Children Need a Mother and Father

It’s not because you’re gay. I love you, so much. It’s because of the nature of the same-sex relationship itself.

It’s only now, as I watch my children loving and being loved by their father each day, that I can see the beauty and wisdom in traditional marriage and parenting.

Growing up, and even into my 20s, I supported and advocated for gay marriage. It’s only with some time and distance from my childhood that I’m able to reflect on my experiences and recognize the long-term consequences that same-sex parenting had on me. And it’s only now, as I watch my children loving and being loved by their father each day, that I can see the beauty and wisdom in traditional marriage and parenting.

Same-sex marriage and parenting withholds either a mother or father from a child while telling him or her that it doesn’t matter. That it’s all the same. But it’s not. A lot of us, a lot of your kids, are hurting. My father’s absence created a huge hole in me, and I ached every day for a dad. I loved my mom’s partner, but another mom could never have replaced the father I lost.

I grew up surrounded by women who said they didn’t need or want a man. Yet, as a little girl, I so desperately wanted a daddy. It is a strange and confusing thing to walk around with this deep-down unquenchable ache for a father, for a man, in a community that says that men are unnecessary. There were times I felt so angry with my dad for not being there for me, and then times I felt angry with myself for even wanting a father to begin with. There are parts of me that still grieve over that loss today.

I’m not saying that you can’t be good parents. You can. I had one of the best. I’m also not saying that being raised by straight parents means everything will turn out okay. We know there are so many different ways that the family unit can break down and cause kids to suffer: divorce, abandonment, infidelity, abuse, death, etc. But by and large, the best and most successful family structure is one in which kids are being raised by both their mother and father.

Why Can’t Gay People’s Kids Be Honest?

Gay marriage doesn’t just redefine marriage, but also parenting. It promotes and normalizes a family structure that necessarily denies us something precious and foundational. It denies us something we need and long for, while at the same time tells us that we don’t need what we naturally crave. That we will be okay. But we’re not. We’re hurting.

If anyone can talk about hard things, it’s us.

Kids of divorced parents are allowed to say, “Hey, mom and dad, I love you, but the divorce crushed me and has been so hard. It shattered my trust and made me feel like it was my fault. It is so hard living in two different houses.” Kids of adoption are allowed to say, “Hey, adoptive parents, I love you. But this is really hard for me. I suffer because my relationship with my first parents was broken. I’m confused and I miss them even though I’ve never met them.”

But children of same-sex parents haven’t been given the same voice. It’s not just me. There are so many of us. Many of us are too scared to speak up and tell you about our hurt and pain, because for whatever reason it feels like you’re not listening. That you don’t want to hear. If we say we are hurting because we were raised by same-sex parents, we are either ignored or labeled a hater.

This isn’t about hate at all. I know you understand the pain of a label that doesn’t fit and the pain of a label that is used to malign or silence you. And I know that you really have been hated and that you really have been hurt. I was there, at the marches, when they held up signs that said, “God hates fags” and “AIDS cures homosexuality.” I cried and turned hot with anger right there in the street with you. But that’s not me. That’s not us.

I know this is a hard conversation. But we need to talk about it. If anyone can talk about hard things, it’s us.  You taught me that.

    

Heather Barwick was raised by her mother and her mother's same-sex partner. She is a former gay-marriage advocate turned children's rights activist. She is a wife and mother of four rambunctious kids.

http://thefederalist.com/2015/03/17/dear-gay-community-your-kids-are-hurting/