Francis Speaks, Scalfari Transcribes, Brandmüller Shreds

A viewpoint by Sandro Magister

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As a Church historian, the German cardinal refutes the notion according to which clerical celibacy was an invention of the 10th century. No, he objects: its origin is with Jesus and the apostles. And he explains why

“Perhaps you do not know that celibacy was established in the 10th century, 900 years after the death of our Lord. The Eastern Catholic Church even now has the option for its priests to marry. The problem certainly exists, but it is not large in scope. It will take time, but the solutions are there and I will find them.”

This is the answer on the issue of the celibacy of the clergy that Pope Francis gave to Eugenio Scalfari in the interview granted to the founder of the newspaper “la Repubblica” and guiding light of secular Italian intellectuals, published on Sunday, July 13.

On the same day, a note from Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the press office of the Holy See, clarified:

Iraqi abbot calls for action to ensure local Christians’ future

Following the effective expulsion of Christians from the city of Mosul by Islamists last week, a prominent local abbot has voiced the need for concrete action supporting Christians in Iraq.

“The question and challenge is how to convince Christians they have (a) future in Iraq,” Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana wrote in a message to Aid to the Church in Need. “Nice words and sympathy statements are not enough. There should be deeds and practices.”

He called “public relations” statements made by the Iraqi government, such as “we are all Iraqis and all Iraq is ours” akin to “a person who is issuing bank checks but he doesn’t have a bank account.”

Early in June, the Sunni militant organization ISIS began attacking cities in north and northwest Iraq, capturing Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province. On July 18, the group issued an ultimatum to Christians in the city, insisting they convert to Islam, pay jizya tax, or be killed. Thousands of Christians and other religious minorities fled the city, seeking refuge in villages in the Nineveh Plains and Kurdistan.

Sunday Mass attendance falls below 40% in Poland

Sunday Mass attendance has fallen below 40% in Poland, according to statistics published in L’Osservatore Romano.

Nonetheless, some statistics are positive: the nation, for example, has more seminarians than any other in Europe.

According to the report:

39.1% of the baptized now attend Mass on Sunday, down from 57% in the 1980s and 50% in the 1990s

42% of those who attend Sunday Mass receive Holy Communion, up from 14% in the 1980s.

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time A

Reading I: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Responsorial Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130
Reading II: Romans 8:28-30
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52

Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field.”
(Gospel)

The Treasures of the Church

There is a story told about St. Lawrence, perhaps only a legend, which merits retelling.

Lawrence, so the story goes, was the deacon in small community during the third century, a time when Christians were being persecuted and martyred. One day, word came from the local civic authority that the government was going to confiscate church properties and that it was coming round to collect anything that Lawrence’s small community had which was of value. An edict was given to Lawrence stating that, on a certain day designated, he was to have all the “treasures of the church” readied so that the soldiers could come and pick them up.

When the day arrived, the local authorities, complete with their military support, arrived at the door of Lawrence’s house. Lawrence, however, had read their decree in a way quite other than they had anticipated. He had assembled there, by his house, all the poor, the lame, the sick, the blind, the weak, the aged, the children, and the outcasts. The commandant announced: “We are here to pick up the treasures of the church! We command you: Hand them over!”

Lawrence, on his part, calmly pointed to the group he had assembled and said: “Here they are! Take them! These are the treasures of the church!”

The commandant was neither amused nor understanding: “We are not here to play games. We have come to pick up the treasures of the church! Hand them over under the pain of death!”

Vatican revising canon law on abuse penalties, cardinal says

Church law has procedures and penalties for effectively dealing with allegations of clerical sexual abuse, but the Vatican is working to revise a section of the Code of Canon Law to make those norms and procedures clearer and, therefore, more effective, said the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

“We want to make this delicate material more accessible, more understandable and easier for bishops to apply,” Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, council president, told the Vatican newspaper.

In the interview published July 24 in L’Osservatore Romano, the cardinal said his office has been working since 2008 to revise “Book VI: Sanctions in the Church,” a section of the Code of Canon Law.

The penalties and punishments offered by church law should be applied, he said.

“In the face of a negative action, which harms the good of a person and therefore the good of the church, penal law expects a reaction, that is the pastor inflicting a canonical penalty,” the cardinal said.

Pornography recovery program helps ‘fight the new drug’

The co-founder and executive director of an organization that fights pornography addiction among youth says he sees a need to continue raising awareness about the harmful effects of porn.

“We want to change the attitude and perception of young people on this topic so that we can help preserve relationships, love, intimacy, spirituality and inspire a new generation to pursue real love and avoid its counterfeit,” Clay Olsen said.

Olsen helped found Fight the New Drug with the intention of helping to make a change in the culture after seeing the harmful effects of pornography on some of his loved ones.

“When it comes to drugs and other types of addictions, we have curriculum, billboards, and campaigns to raise awareness, but when it comes pornography, our culture acts as if it doesn’t exist,” he said.

The name for the organization was chosen specifically to portray the addictive nature of pornography.

Francis’s Secret Friend in Caserta

An Analysis by by Sandro Magister

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He is not Catholic, but Pentecostal, a part of those Christian communities which are in breathtaking expansion all over the world. Little by little the pope is meeting with their leaders. From rivals he wants to become friends, to the point of asking their forgiveness

When the news got out, and was confirmed by Fr. Federico Lombardi, that Pope Francis intended to make a private visit to Caserta to meet with a friend, the pastor of a local Evangelical community, the city’s bishop, Giovanni D’Alise, was thunderstruck. He hadn’t been told a thing.

Moreover, the pope had planned his visit to Caserta for the same day as the feast of Saint Anne, the city’s patron. Seeing themselves snubbed, some of the faithful threatened an uprising. It took a good week to convince the pope to change his schedule and divide the trip into two phases: the first a public one with the faithful of Caserta on Saturday, July 26, and the second in private with his Evangelical friend on the following Monday.