Cardinal Pell Rejects Accusations made against him.

October 12, 2012 Leave a comment

From the CAM website:

MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY

As Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell does not usually comment on religious life in Victoria and does not plan to comment on the activities of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Alleged Criminal Abuse of Children by Religious and Other Organisations. It is however necessary to respond to recent reports about a false and seriously misleading allegation contained in a submission to the Inquiry.

The claims made in relation to Cardinal Pell in a submission to the Inquiry by Waller Legal are irresponsible, untrue and are absolutely rejected.

Unfortunately, factual errors in the submission to the Inquiry made by Dr Waller of Waller Legal, relating to Cardinal Pell’s presence in the Diocese of Ballarat in 1969, have been repeated by media outlets across the country.

These are the facts. The Cardinal was ordained a priest in 1966 in Rome, he continued his studies and then travelled to Oxford to study for his Doctorate. Cardinal Pell was studying at Oxford in 1969 and was not a priest appointed in the Diocese of Ballarat at the time alleged in Dr Waller’s submission. Cardinal Pell returned to Australia in 1971 and worked at Swan Hill in the Diocese of Ballarat. In 1973 he received his second appointment as a priest in East Ballarat.

In any event, Cardinal Pell was never present when any allegations of rape were made by a victim against Brother Best.

Cardinal Pell’s postings from the early 1960s are well documented and could have easily been checked by Dr Waller (which may well have been of assistance to her client, Victim 2). These details could also have been easily checked by the media outlets reporting on the Inquiry. Factually incorrect submissions may well distract and mislead the Inquiry in the important work it is undertaking.

Cardinal Pell said that the truth will avoid further hurt to victims. Unsubstantiated allegations and personal and false smears are of no assistance to victims or to the Inquiry. He is hopeful that the Inquiry will be able to continue its important work and not have its processes and the Parliamentary privilege afforded to all involved exploited with calumny.

During his sixteen years as Archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, Cardinal Pell has regularly explained to the public the procedures followed by him in the areas of his responsibility, his Archdioceses, to combat sex abuse and has never distanced himself from his responsibilities.

Cardinal Pell welcomes efforts to provide healing for victims and to discover the truth.

He has previously indicated that if the Victorian Inquiry feels it would be helpful for him to give evidence, he would certainly do so.

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A Must read for all Catholics

September 26, 2012 1 Comment

Last weekend I was in Cambletown with a delegation from Melbourne at the Australian Catholic Youth Ministry Convention. This event saw over 250 Youth Ministers from across the country come together to share ideas and receive formation. (This was the second event of its kind, after Melbourne hosted the inaugural ACYMC two years ago

By far the highlight of the weekend (apart from sitting in a hotel room watching the hawks make their way into the Grand Final) was the Keynote Address by Bishop Anthony Fisher OP.

His speech was not only the finest example of oratory I have heard in a long time, but his ability to assess the current state of affairs and propose a way forward was second to none.

The full text can be found here, and should be read by all, young and old.

Here are some highlights

After outlining “Modernity’s long-extended adolescence … a period of keeping options open, putting long-term decisions on the backburner, and enjoying a childlike freedom in pursuit of fun” he points out that this is not what Christ had in mind:

. Christianity did teach the world that childhood is a precious time and that young adults need particular formation. It invented a three-phase system of education that has now become more or less universal. It insisted on certain responsibilities of parents and older members of the community towards the young and vice versa. It invested huge amounts of its energy into orphanages, schools, work with youth and, of course, youth ministry. But it has never supported the idea of an extended adolescence in which people are kept emotionally and spiritually stunted, seeking only their own pleasure, habituated in non-commitment, and looking to be supported in this by their parents and community. Nor has Christianity ever recommended joining an extended moral childishness to very adult activities such as sex, warfare, drugs and the rest.
As we contemplate in thought, prayer, dialogue and action how best to serve and draw into service today’s Catholic youth, we must appreciate that we do so in a society that offers them all sorts of technologies, opportunities and ideals, some very good, but also promotes a false spirituality and does not help them mature well. It sells them short in many ways, not least in saying they are not up to much, except in athletics or modelling where youth sells. Too many voices in our culture suggest that young people today lack idealism, are unwilling to sacrifice for a cause, are only interested in passing pleasurable experiences. Such will be true only if we present only such aspirations to them.

Therefore, Bishop Fisher points out, the role of all of us who are responsible for the formation of the young is to:

[Help the Young] to grow up well, to cease being spiritual midgets, to break out of the ‘sand pit’ and take their faith seriously. We must bring them to a mature freedom, not of self-serving or arbitrariness, but freedom for excellence, a freedom in the pursuit of the good and true and beautiful for themselves, their loved ones, their Church and world.
Youth ministry is, then, about helping people grow up in a society that too often stunts them emotionally and spiritually, or sells them short in other ways.

Calling on our last two Popes he points out that “youth is not just a period of prepping for adulthood when at last we do the Christian thing, but of already doing the Christian thing in a youthful way, as well as preparing to do it in new adult ways.”

Youth Ministry must have as its goal for not just short term solutions but a ‘real cure’

“we need to be focussed on …. life after youth ministry: getting young people ready for the next phase of life, connecting them to parishes, groups and ministries, habituating them in attendance at Mass and Confession, growing them in virtue and holiness, drawing forth the unique gifts each brings to the building up Church and society, readying them for life as saints on earth and in heaven. With such help the prognosis is very bright.”

read the full text, read it and be inspired.

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My Family my Faith

August 23, 2012 Leave a comment

I just came across this interesting website out of Canberra, My Family, My Faith, making it meaningful.

The article that was sent to me was entitled “A Large family, managing on a single income” and here is the authors top ten tips for surviving on one income

  • use modern cloth nappies not disposables (just as easy to change, throw in my “whites” wash and line dry). Green!
  • bake treats instead of buying junk food (some of my slices are in demand from my children’s classes). Fills them up better and reduces salt! Healthy and green!
  • shop fortnightly with a menu list (mostly) and try to make dinner with ingredients in the cupboard. This limits my impulse buying!
  • buy on special (everything!) or second hand (furniture, cars and some electrical). We ask for a discount for anything major – it can’t hurt.
  • watch DVDs or have family or friends over instead of going out (although we do try to support the local cinema to keep it in business!).
  • are trying to be humble – we don’t need a flash car, just one which starts.  Likewise, our furniture isn’t new and doesn’t match, but it works.
  • support three or four charities which are close to our hearts and ignore the rest (except for local raffle tickets – I could win a trailer of wood!).
  • only use our credit card within the bounds of what we have in the bank to repay fully each month.  Of course, we don’t really need it at all.  A Visa Debit would be just as useful but much less dangerous!
  • direct debit major expenses in instalments eg. School fees (we try not to look at the bills!)
  • live in the country.  Many things are cheaper and there are less shops to waste money in (though I do try hard)!

Read the whole article here, its worth it.

The rest of the site is pretty interesting, and well worth a look

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Shrine of the Holy Family

August 21, 2012 Leave a comment

The Archdiocese of Melbourne now has a Shrine of the Holy Family.  St Mary’s West Melbourne has now been dedicated as a place of prayer for and promotion of the Family.

This entrustment to the Holy Family of Nazareth will send a much needed message to the community that family life is something precious to be nurtured and protected, enabling its members to be secure and to flourish; and that the apostolate for marriage and family conducted from the Shrine of the Holy Family will have a broad influence to uphold the integrity of Christian marriage and family life.

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Glorious Homecoming

August 15, 2012 Leave a comment

This morning our athletes arrived home from the Olympics, to be greeted by the Prime Minister, dignitaries and their families and friends.  Although the medalists traveled at ‘the pointy end of the plane’ and were greeted with a handshake from the prime minister, all were cheered and supported as they returned home, winners or not.  For most of our athletes, participating in the olympics has come at the end of a lifetime of training, hard work and sheer determination, and although there were plenty of tears when medals were lost, the general feeling was of pride and achievement just to have got as far as they did.

Today though, the Church celebrates an even more glorious homecoming.  After a lifetime of dedicated service, of faith and of trust in the Lord, Our Blessed Mother was
assumed into heaven where her Son and his Father welcomed her with more than a handshake and a pat on the back but with a crown of eternal glory.  

This great solemnity reminds us all of the place being prepared for each one of us, and that death is not the end for those who live faithful lives but as Pope Benedict XVI said on this day in 2008 “even though our daily life may be marked by trials and difficulties, it flows like a river to the divine ocean, to the fullness of joy and peace. We understand that our death is not the end but rather the entrance into life that knows no death. Our setting on the horizon of this world is our rising at the dawn of the new world, the dawn of the eternal day.”

As we celebrate with joy the earthly achievements of our Olympians, let us celebrate with even greater joy the heavenly achievements of our Blessed Mother, who goes before each one of us, leading us to her son, and to our own glorious homecoming.

By her Assumption is meant that not only her soul, but her body also, was taken up to heaven upon her death, so that there was no long period of her sleeping in the grave, as is the case with others, even great Saints, who wait for the last day for the resurrection of their bodies (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Martyrdom

August 10, 2012 2 Comments

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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St Lawrence, Deacon and martyr.

Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome, who served the Holy Father Pope Sixtus II, with the special responsibility to caring for the poor. In 258 the emperor Valerian ordered that all bishops, priests and deacons be put to death, and on the 6th of August of the same year captured Pope Sixtus and four of his deacons as they celebrated Holy Mass in the Catacombs and had them beheaded. Subsequenty two more of the deacons were captured and put to death, leaving only Lawrence.

The Emperor called Lawrence to him and demanded that in three days, he present all of the Church’s riches to him. After three days, Lawrence arrived with the poor, sick and lame of Rome, and presented them to Valerian, announcing that here were the treasures of the Church. In response Valerian had him put to death, by gridiron, in other words he was burnt to death on a grill. (As only the Catholic Church could do, St Lawrence is seen as patron of Chefs).

So often when we look to the Martyrs we use their examples as inspiration for the white martyrdom of daily life, giving of our lives in the small things, giving till it hurts, offering our sufferings to God as form of mortification. Yet we must be aware that Christians even today are still being martyred for their beliefs in various parts of our world. The account of one such occurrence, the kidnapping and murder of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho in 2008 can be found here.

In 2004 Pope John Paul II, who himself was all to aware of the persecution of Christians in our own time said:

“They may be relatively few who are called to make the supreme sacrifice, but all Christians must be ready to give consistent witness each day, even at the cost of suffering and serious sacrifices. We really need a commitment that is at times heroic in order not to give in, even in daily life, to the difficulties that urge us to compromise, and in order to live the Gospel ‘sine glossa’.”

In the secular climate we live in, we must all be aware, that our defence of the weak and vulnerable, and our tireless promotion of the true, the good and the beautiful, may one day demand of us the ultimate sacrifice. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, after the passing of Civil union legislation in America said:

I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.

Let us pray that through the intercession of St Lawrence, and all the Church’s Martyrs, we may have the strength to continue to proclaim the truth of the Gospel, in the face of the ever growing secularism.

O God,
Blessed Lawrence showed forth the fire of his love for you, both by faithful service and glorious martyrdom.
Make us to love the things which he loved,
and to do the works that he taught.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Not going Backwards, moving forwards.

July 17, 2012 3 Comments

The mass is for most people, their window on the Church, and for many it becomes a point of confusion, or distraction, for in recent times (the past 50 years) there has been many changes, interpretations and personal styles that have influenced how the Mass has been celebrated.

As a recently ordained priest, it often becomes a point of discussion over dinner tables with families, in sacristies with parishioners, and in offices with wedding couples and those preparing funerals. I am also aware that it is a conversation that happens behind backs, and around corners and out of earshot, sometimes in order not to offend, and other times …. well…. I always try to remember that many people have seen many more changes than what I have in my relatively short time as a priest, and that being born and growing up after the Council, in my comparatively short time as a Catholic.

With this in mind, I still get upset though when accusations are levelled at my contemporaries and I that we are ‘trying to take things back to the pre-conciliar days’. This never makes sense to me considering that the Mass I celebrate every day was promulgated after the council, which has been revised and now retranslated, several times since the council, and I follow the General Instruction of the missal and the other teachings of the church, and Holy Father, which are all post conciliar. How could I possibly be going back, to a time I never lived in, to a thing I have never known, by celebrating faithfully a Mass that was created after it.

I have just finished reading a very interesting piece which is a speech given by Mgr Andrew Wadsworth, who played a pivotal role in the new English translation of the Mass. He outlines in general where we have come from, and where we are at now, in terms of liturgy.

The factors which fed into the liturgical reform after the Council were complex and in some ways, not entirely contemporary…. Whether or not we have any scholarly insight, many of us have lived in the Church through this period and have thereby accumulated a vast reservoir of experiences which for good or ill shape our perceptions in relation to the liturgy and guide our expectations when we consider what we would hope to find when we come to worship God in the liturgy. While there is a sort of commonality to these observations across a wide spectrum of liturgical preference, it goes without saying that whether something is considered desirable or not will largely depend on your view of what the liturgy is meant to achieve. I have come to the view that there is little agreement in this important matter and many people proceed on what is essentially a privatized view of something which is by definition common property.

Basing himself on a recent speech of the Holy Father he proceeds to outline what the key issues, both positive and negative, of the current liturgical climate are, and a way forward (see that forward, not backward).

The full text can be found here

He concludes with these few words

“A new generation of Catholics eagerly awaits a greater experience of the basic truth that the liturgy is always a gift which we receive from the Church rather than make for ourselves.”.

Something we should all keep in mind.

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Venerable Fulton Sheen

July 16, 2012 1 Comment

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At the end of last month, the Holy Father acknowledged formally the heroic virtue of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, now Venerable, the second major step in the process to canonisation.

Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, in 1919. He served the Church in Peoria for more than three decades, before being appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951, and became the Bishop of Rochester, NY in 1966. During his years of service, he became the leading religious radio and television personality in the United States, while continuing to publish books and articles prolifically.

Read the rest of the piece here.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen could be rightly seen as a father of the new evangelisation, a man of God who was fully aware of the importance of using modern means, to engage with the moderns.

There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing. ~Archbishop Fulton John Sheen

One thing that we will never know, but I think it is safe to assume, if he could have, the Venerable Fulton Sheen would have been a blogger.

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“You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You have been a loyal son of the Church!” Blessed John Paul II

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Our Lady of Mount Carmel

July 16, 2012 Leave a comment

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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Blessed John Paul II, pictured wearing the brown scapular, spoke of devotion to Our Lady under this title in 2001.

Contemplation of the Virgin presents her to us as a loving Mother who sees her Son growing up in Nazareth (cf. Lk 2:40, 52), follows him on the roads of Palestine, helps him at the wedding at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5) and, at the foot of the Cross, becomes the Mother associated with his offering and given to all people when Jesus himself entrusts her to his beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26). As Mother of the Church, the Blessed Virgin is one with the disciples in “constant prayer” (Acts 1:14); as the new Woman who anticipates in herself what will one day come to pass for us all in the full enjoyment of Trinitarian life, she is taken up into heaven from where she spreads the protective mantle of her mercy over her children on their pilgrimage to the holy mountain of glory.

Such a contemplative attitude of mind and heart prompts admiration for the Virgin’s experience of faith and love; she already lives in herself all that every believer desires and hopes to attain in the mystery of Christ and the Church (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 103; Lumen gentium, n. 53). Therefore, Carmelites have chosen Mary as their Patroness and spiritual Mother and always keep before the eyes of their heart the Most Pure Virgin who guides everyone to the perfect knowledge and imitation of Christ.

Thus an intimacy of spiritual relations has blossomed, leading to an ever increasing communion with Christ and Mary. For the members of the Carmelite Family, Mary, the Virgin Mother of God and mankind, is not only a model to imitate but also the sweet presence of a Mother and Sister in whom to confide, St Teresa of Jesus rightly urged her sisters: “Imitate Our Lady and consider how great she must be and what a good thing it is that we have her for our Patroness” (Interior Castle, III, 1, 3).

He then goes onto speak of the spiritual benefits of the devotion to the Brown Scapular

The sign of the Scapular points to an effective synthesis of Marian spirituality, which nourishes the devotion of believers and makes them sensitive to the Virgin Mother’s loving presence in their lives. The Scapular is essentially a “habit”. Those who receive it are associated more or less closely with the Order of Carmel and dedicate themselves to the service of Our Lady for the good of the whole Church (cf. “Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular”, in the Rite of Blessing of and Enrolment in the Scapular, approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 5 January 1996). Those who wear the Scapular are thus brought into the land of Carmel, so that they may “eat its fruits and its good things” (cf. Jer 2:7), and experience the loving and motherly presence of Mary in their daily commitment to be clothed in Jesus Christ and to manifest him in their life for the good of the Church and the whole of humanity (cf. “Formula of Enrolment in the Scapular”, cit.).

Therefore two truths are evoked by the sign of the Scapular: on the one hand, the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin, not only on life’s journey, but also at the moment of passing into the fullness of eternal glory; on the other, the awareness that devotion to her cannot be limited to prayers and tributes in her honour on certain occasions, but must become a “habit”, that is, a permanent orientation of one’s own Christian conduct, woven of prayer and interior life, through frequent reception of the sacraments and the concrete practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In this way the Scapular becomes a sign of the “covenant” and reciprocal communion between Mary and the faithful: indeed, it concretely translates the gift of his Mother, which Jesus gave on the Cross to John and, through him, to all of us, and the entrustment of the beloved Apostle and of us to her, who became our spiritual Mother.

I was enrolled in the Brown Scapular in my second year in the seminary, by Fr Denis Ward OFM Cap, who we pray now shares in the glories promised to those who fervently entrust themselves to our Lord and His Blessed Mother. He said to me on that day.

One of two things happen to those who wear the scapular, they either stop sinning, or they stop wearing the scapular.

No truer words could have been spoken, for just like clerical dress, or the cassock, to put on the scapular each morning after a shower, one must stop and think for a moment, am I seriously committed to living a life that is in tune with wearing this garment or not?

O JESUS, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, (here kiss your brown scapular) and in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being offered throughout the world, I offer You all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for my sins and the sins of the whole world.

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Seminary Blog and some other tools for discernment

May 30, 2012 Leave a comment

One of the features of the new website for Corpus Christi College the regional seminary for Victoria and Tasmania is a blog.  Great to see it has been updated recently with a couple of posts including the Vocation Directors Homily from the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.

There is a special relationship of motherhood that exists between Mary and the priesthood because priests are “in persona Christi”; they are committed to the mission of proclaiming, bearing witness to and giving Christ to the world. Because of the identification with and sacramental conformation to Jesus, Son of God and Son of Mary, every priest is a special beloved son of Mother Mary.

There is also a short post from Deacon Michael Gallacher who will return to Australia next month to be ordained a priest at St Patrick’s Cathedral on the 29th of June.
In Rome in particular it is a wonderful privilege to be surrounded by so many martyrs from the early Centuries of the Church. In Rome also we are able to see the true universality of the Church, as members of the Body of Christ from all over the world are drawn to Rome to pray at the tomb of St Peter and to see his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Great to see the seminary launching into the deep of social media.  Hopefully in the weeks ahead we will see more from the current seminarians, providing an insight into seminary life, for those of you who have not had the pleasure to live it, and offering a online perspective of priestly formation for those discerning a vocation to the priesthood.
I came across this site recently which is full of great stuff for those discerning a vocation to priestly life. One of the great things is this 20min youtube clip that some might find helpful.

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