Another Woman Makes Milwaukee Proud

Janice Sevre-Duszynska (pronounced sev-ruh duh-SHIN-ska) grew up in Milwaukee and will be ordained August 9th, 2008. She is currently a resident of Kentucky and will be ordained in Lexington according to an article in the Lexington Herald Leader.

Archbishop Dolan Helping Us Become More Inclusive

As anyone reading this probably already knows, it looks like Archbishop Dolan will be allowing a married man with children to serve at a parish in this Archdiocese who was formally a Lutheran pastor and is now a Catholic priest. Fr. Michael Scheip is a father in more than one way since he has adolescent and adult children.

Before this news broke, I had been thinking that perhaps I have been too hard on Dolan in my blog at times. He is not perfect and has made a few big mistakes (i.e. lying about keeping St. Francis Seminary open). But even though he is more conservative, he has not pushed this conservatism done the throats of everyone in Milwaukee. To some extent, the new GIRM (liturgical norms) was only implemented as much as priests and parishioners wanted to implement them. I am not aware of him cracking down on more liberal parishes.

And while I do not believe there is any real comparison, Pope John XXIII was definitely a conservative cleric who allowed the gifts of the Spirit to move where they please. I was very impressed earlier this year when Dolan had Fr. Bryan Massingale as a guest on his TV show. Massingale is known for his progressive views that differ from the Archbishop's, but I think Dolan recognizes when he has a gifted priest in his midst.

And now Dolan is allowing a married priest to serve in a parish in the Archdiocese. Bravo. Even if he states that this move has nothing to do with moving towards a future where cradle Catholics can become married priests, try telling that to the Catholics who will moved by the ministry of married Fr. Michael Scheip.

A Faithful Catholic

Burke Given a Desk Job

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about Benedict, but I have the feeling that part of the reason for Archbishop Burke's appointment as Prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature at the Vatican is to get him out of the spotlight. Seriously, what harm can he actually do as in this position? This court mostly handles marriage cases, which will probably be pretty clear cut from a canon law point of view.

Benedict may have his strong conservative opinions, but he does not appear to be the persecutor that John Paul II made him out to be. Benedict does not want the Catholic Church viewed as a persecutor church, such as Burke was doing in St. Louis and making national headlines in his wake. Benedict is the type of bishop who meets with Hans Kung. Benedict is more of a bridge-builder than a bridge-destroyer. So perhaps I am mistaken, but I think that Benedict had enough of reading Burke headlines in the NY Times and decided to give him a desk job would he can no longer to any real harm.

A Faithful Catholic

Anglicans Get There First... Again

As reported on the Anglican Communion Website, women will be admitted as bishops within the Anglican communion. There will be provisions set up to work with those who would be averse to having a woman bishop, but not all the details have been ironed out yet. According to Timesonline, 1300 clergy had threatened to leave if this happened, but how many will follow through on that threat remains to be seen.

In 1930 at the Anglican Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Communion began to sanction the use of birth control as moral in certain situations. At Vatican II, one of the main reasons against the use of birth control was that it would mean the Anglicans had been right for over 30 years.

The commission set up by John XXIII and Paul VI to condemn birth control was swayed by the arguments of others and felt that Paul VI should change the Catholic Church's current teaching, but he dropped the ball on this issue in Humanae Vitae and never wrote another encyclical afterwards. I'm not sure when, but I'm sure that one of these days our Catholic Church will catch up to the Anglican Communion on these issues.

A Faithful Catholic

Indulgences Won't Go Away

According to a Vatican decree signed by Cardinal Stafford and Bishop Girotti, the upcoming World Youth Day in Australia will provide Catholics with the opportunity to receive indulgences. Plenary indulgences (complete remission of sin for the moment) will be granted to those who come to the youth day in a spirit of pilgrimage. Partial indulgences will be available for those you pray for a good outcome from the day.

I cannot understand why the Vatican continues to make indulgences available. They will not allow communal absolution, but will allow what is the equivalent of absolution for those attending the youth day. Ergo, if a bomb dropped on them during that day, they would all go straight to heaven. This is simply bad theology and represents the superstitious portion of Catholic thought.

I think indulgences come from the good intention of explaining how our actions are an important aspect of our faith and relationship with God, but this is an embarrassment that is more comparable to a magic show than religion.

A Faithful Catholic