The Churches

Jim Bowman wants to keep up with you on Twitter

2009-11-01T22:04:00.001-06:00

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Slipping one over

2007-02-18T11:35:00.000-06:00

We had a passage from First Kings this morning at the 8 a.m. mass. The guest preacher, here to give a two-night mission tomorrow and the next day, even quoted from it: “God is not in the turmoil but in the peace,” he said. Good punch line for his message about how to be impervious to the slings and arrows of 21st-century life by buying into Jesus as Lord and Savior. But the passage was a

Post-divorce communion

2007-01-02T08:45:00.000-06:00

A retired Vatican cardinal talks very liberally about divorce being sometimes the best option and at least sympathetically about communion being available to the divorced and remarried -- a major theme registered in my Priests at Work: Catholic Pastors Tell How They Apply Church Law in Difficult Cases.

Chicago's John Foley to the fore

2006-12-28T18:44:00.000-06:00

He's director of Cristo Re school in Pilsen and a nationwide movement. Newsweek Mag calls him someone to watch in '07.

Catholic money gone

2006-12-21T16:05:00.000-06:00

Was I saying something about badly managed dioceses the other day?A whopping 85 percent of U.S. dioceses have detected embezzlement over the past five years, according to Villanova University researchers. "No question about it, it’s a large number," said Charles Zech, director of the school’s Center for the Study of Church Management and coauthor of the 15-page paper, "Internal Financial Controls

What a guy

2006-12-21T15:48:00.000-06:00

Abortion Joe, the Euthanasia Man says, “We’re all tumors, or were at some point, to be excised if judged malignant.”

Mike & Val, SJ, RIP

2006-12-20T10:21:00.000-06:00

Jesuits die almost every day, Chi Province alone. Today’s listing has three. One was a nice fellow, personable, who headed St. Ignatius High in Chicago for a time. The other two had color to burn.Mike English died in 1973, seven years to the month after he offered me a job at Loyola Academy, Wilmette, where he was rector. I was loose, having done a turn at U. of Ill. at Chi intending to

Blame apportioned

2006-12-19T08:20:00.000-06:00

The lay woman who heads the West Side parish school where Rev. Daniel McCormack apparently molested students is up in arms about getting blamed. Barbara Westrick went on TV last night to complain about Chicago archdiocesan authorities who are making her, she said, a “scapegoat.” If she had known what Cardinal Francis George knew when the mother of an apparently abused child came to her, she

Blame apportioned

2006-12-19T08:14:00.000-06:00

The lay woman who heads the West Side parish school where Rev. Daniel McCormack apparently molested students is up in arms about getting blamed. Barbara Westrick went on TV last night to complain about Chicago archdiocesan priests who are making her, she said, a “scapegoat.” If she had known what Cardinal Francis George knew when the mother of an apparently abused child came to her, she would

Slight omission

2006-12-17T16:52:00.000-06:00

Fr. Jn L. can’t call God his father. So he changes wording of a standard prayer during mass, subbing “almighty God” for “almighty Father.” Or he won’t, maybe because he considers it unfair to women. In either case, he should (a) get over it, maybe seeing God as his father will help him lose or crowd out bad memories of his father if that’s the problem, or (b) accept the idea that as

How parishes thrive

2006-12-11T09:15:00.000-06:00

Rev. Jack Wall is leaving Old St. Pat’s after 24 years. He found four people when he arrived, now there are 3,000. It hosts the famed “ass mass,” attended by spouse-seeking young Catholics. It’s solvent and thriving, which is no small thing in our time. Wall is off to the Extension (bishops’ missionary) Society, where his exquisite marketing skills should find an outlet.Yes, marketing. Wall

Immaculate

2006-12-08T07:13:00.000-06:00

An irreverent Jesuit many years ago referred to the huge Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Wash DC, where sales were brisk of rosaries, medals, pamphlets, and the like as the “immaculate concession.”For the reverent or at least less irreverent, the immaculate part is about Mary being conceived without original sin, which means she had a head start on all of us. No even playing field, but

Trapped

2006-12-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

Ostensibly picking up on gospel notion of not being distracted by lesser concerns, preacher digs up tried and true chestnut, list of woes of rest of world compared to us, offering exercise in guilt-tripping for one of your most guilt-prone of audiences: sunday churchgoers, especially those eager beavers who show up at early mass. It's like telling a dirty joke at Vegas, easy way to get a laugh;

Justice, we trust

2006-11-11T17:01:00.000-06:00

It’s no small thing for Rome to can a priest, so this is noteworthy.

Catholics resist

2006-10-27T15:49:00.001-05:00

Catholics got their back up in the United Kingdom: Here in Britan intense pressure from the Catholic Church has led to a dramatic U-turn by the Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, on the issue of faith schools. Last week Mr Johnson announced that all new faith schools would be obliged to admit a quarter of pupils from outside their faith community but by last night he had abandoned the plan.

Brothers' month

2006-10-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

It's October, with St. Alphonsus Rodriguez SJ commemorated. He was a brother and remains Jesuit and other religious brothers' patron.Born in Spain in 1533, Alphonsus inherited the family textile business at 23. Within the space of three years, his wife, daughter and mother died; meanwhile, business was poor. Alphonsus stepped back and reassessed his life. He sold the business and, with his young

BC rejects Iran leader's visit request

2006-09-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

From the Boston College student newspaper, The Heights: The University declined a late request Friday made by controversial former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit the McMullen Museum's new exhibit on Islamic art, Cosmophilia, on Monday - the five-year anniversary of Sept. 11. Administrators cited the

St. Louis U. recruiter for terror?

2006-09-13T10:49:00.000-05:00

Jesuit-run St. Louis U. has a prof who recruits support for Palestinian terror, says Front Page Mag: Wiles and Presson [SLU students under scrutiny by the Israeli security service] were both recruited in a Social Justice Studies class by St. Louis University professor Mark Chmiel. Chmiel encourages his students as part of his courses to conduct what he calls “

Jesuits covered for college president

2006-09-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

The Oregon Province has been in the news for sexual abuse, before the latest news of the Gonzaga U. president, John Leary, who was accused in 1966 but not determined guilty but in 1969 had to leave town (Spokane), which he did, remaining a Jesuit in good standing until his death in 1993.Leary and Michael Toulouse, a Jesuit who taught at Seattle University and died in 1976, are among 30 to 50 open

Hot school, speakers

2006-09-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

Very good report about St. Mary of Czestochowa School in Cicero, “one of those energetic Catholic schools that deserves to flourish,” with not quite 200 students. “Good staff, sparkling clean building, little Hispanic kids who say hello to their principal when he walks by, a music room with a baby grand, and [the principal] is trying to foster vocations.” Fr. John Corapi, regularly booked 2

British Jesuits celebrate record number of new priests

2006-09-06T19:54:00.000-05:00

A double ordination in South Africa on 8 September will bring the total number of men ordained for the British Province of the Society of Jesus in 2006 to six-the highest number in one year since 1988, reports Independent Catholic News.

Garanzini and Loyola-Chicago

2006-08-28T21:45:00.000-05:00

Chronicle Careers, from The Chronicle of Higher EducationUnder the leadership of Michael J. Garanzini, SJ, Loyola's President, the Universityhas been experiencing a virtual renaissance evidenced by record levels ...

Fw: Google Alert - Jesuits

2006-08-28T18:04:00.000-05:00

Google Alert for: Jesuits Jesuit James Tan ordained as priestSingapore Catholic News - Singapore... Father James had his first encounter with the Jesuits when he attended a talk by then Father Paul Tan. That encounter drew James ... ‘Derps,’ man for othersABS CBN News - Philippines... Many remember him as one of the Jesuits who were among the advisers of Corazon C. Aquino during the

Seminarian removed

2006-08-23T15:57:00.000-05:00

Non-Jesuit story here, in Columbus OH seminarian sent packing after drunk-driving fatalities. This is Mark Rowlands, who pleaded guilty to a weapons charge and attempted impersonation of a law-enforcement officer after a fatal crash last yearwhen his car hit a tree on the St. Mary of the Lake seminary grounds and two other seminarians were killed. He was giventwo years' probation, fined and

Schools, etc.

2006-08-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

* Chicago: BBC on Cristo Re schools in Chi: The Jesuits have set up a network of schools which take students from neighbourhoods beset by gangs, drugs and crime, and give them an intensive high school education costing $10,000 (£5,300) a year* Patna, India: Jesuit school in Bihar helps poor kids: For the first time, children in remote villages have the chance to get a good education and hopes of

Fr. McGuire sentenced

2006-07-18T21:47:00.000-05:00

Rev. Donald McGuire SJ has been sentenced to seven years in prison. This is being delayed during his appeal, because of his age, 76, and his health. His 20 years probation, the other part of his sentence, starts immediately. During this time, when not in prison, he is to stay at a nursing home. He is to register as a sex offender. "You can very well think I'm guilty because I chose to say

Priest sues to reclaim good name

2006-07-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

This priest has had all he can take, apparently.

Seminarian's plea

2006-07-10T18:02:00.000-05:00

We must indeed wonder how hard up a diocese would be for priests to take on this fellow for ordination, who copped a plea in Ohio in 2001, surviving that dust-up so as to be a seminarian in good standing at Mundelein Catholic seminary last September carrying gun and spurious credentials when his car hit a tree and two seminarian passengers were killed. He pleaded guilty again today, to weapons

McGuire sentencing

2006-07-08T20:27:00.000-05:00

FYI: Donald McGuire sentencing hearing has been set for July 18, 2 pm, Walworth County (Wis.) Judicial Center - Room 3040, James L. Carlson presiding.

San-Fran-Cisco

2006-07-06T17:34:00.000-05:00

This sounds like fun, but I’m too old.

Latin is coming! Latin is coming!

2006-07-06T17:07:00.000-05:00

. . . Look for it soon, says Benedict 14’s man for liturgy:[N]owhere in the [Vatican 2] conciliar decree [on worship] does it say that the priest must face the assembly, nor that the use of Latin is forbidden! If the use of the common tongue is permitted, notably in the liturgy of the Word, the decree is very clear that the use of the Latin language should be maintained in the Latin rite. We are

Priest cleared

2006-07-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

This Irish priest has beaten the rap. Has full, publicly stated confidence of his bishop as to accusation of abuse in 70s.Bishop Jones, who attended Mass in Strandhill, said that a canonical investigation into the complaint against Canon Ahern had concluded that the allegation was unsubstantiated.Very interesting.Not this one in Philadelphia, however.

Book says abuse by priests nothing new

2006-07-02T13:14:00.000-05:00

Fr. Thomas Doyle, OP, longtime critic of hierarchical inadequacy in the matter of priestly sexual abuse, has a book out about abuse down the centuries. His judgment about the last 20 years?“The church hierarchy has shown itself incapable, rather than unwilling, to respond to the clerical sexual abuse crisis since the 1980s,” he said. “There is good will on the part of many within the system, but

Priests: McGuire sentencing, Mayer sued

2006-06-14T17:58:00.000-05:00

The sentencing of Rev. Donald McGuire, SJ, convicted in February of sexual molestation of two Loyola Academy-Wilmette boys in the 60s, has been delayed to about June 26, according to Walworth County, Wisconsin, court records. In an unrelated case, ex-Rev. Robert Mayer, once assigned to St. Catherine of Siena parish in Oak Park and having served several years at Stateville for sexual molestation,

I believe in Holy Mother the State

2006-06-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

Opening 'graph of Ann Coulter's latest, Godless:the Church of Liberalism -- Liberals love to boast that they are not religious, which is what one would expect to hear from the state-sanctioned religion. Of course liberalism is a religion. It has its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints, its own total worldview

St. Christopher out almost $1 mill

2006-05-31T16:37:00.000-05:00

Read this and weep, all you Catholics and other Americans who cherish honesty and elementary competence in church and other officials.

Seminarian saved

2006-05-03T12:37:00.000-05:00

A loud sigh of relief could be heard in a crowded Lake County courtroom Tuesday afternoon when Judge Victoria Rossetti announced a sentence of probation rather than prison for a former Catholic seminary student who killed two friends while driving drunk last year. Robert Spaulding, 28, of Buffalo Grove, pleaded guilty in February to reckless homicide and aggravated driving

Shaking at mass -- yet again

2006-04-30T18:03:00.000-05:00

Speaking once more of shaking hands for peace at Mass, Reader Margaret chimes in on my reference to mass as a place to get the habit of feeling good about each other, attributed by implication to contemporary lit-niks, the folks who led our liturgical redo of the 70s and since then:Alas, Church is NOT the place to feel good about each other. All of us who remember the old Mass know that the Mass

Shaking again

2006-04-23T13:10:00.000-05:00

In the matter of handshaking for peace at mass, no further adventures but these further thoughts: * It cheapens the handshake, reducing it to a sacred symbol when it's one of mankind's most telling natural symbols. Natural in the sense that in our society -- the one which uses it sacrally -- it's a way to express friendship and camaraderie and dealmaking and many other good things. But

Good news

2006-04-19T12:27:00.000-05:00

Next time you're feeling down on Holy Mother Church, think of this once-Cincinnati-based Chicago Province Jesuit who grew up on a farm in Indiana and has life by the tail, as told in the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. He's Henry Kenney, who bills self as a "prayer coach" but has taught philosophy at Xavier U., done lots of time in Africa, and been at a Lexington spirituality center since '88.

Judas, he OK

2006-04-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

About 400 of about 1,370 Gospel of Judas news stories say it's a Gnostic document, says the gospel according to Google. Too bad for us readers. Gnostics were gotcha writers who predated Christ. They rehabbed Cain too, portraying him as a decent fellow even if he did do his brother Abel in, and Esau, famous seller of birthright for mess of pottage. In this one they rehab Judas, "a good

Food, glorious food

2006-04-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

Food writer Mickey Fenix, of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, wonders “what it is with Jesuits and food” after she heard from two of her countrymen stationed in the U.S., responding to comments about Filipino food, one of whom recommended two web sites — The Jesuit Gourmet and Jesuit Recipes. "Food must be one of the things one must enjoy to be a Jesuit," she (he?) concluded.That with the recent

Ass what??!!

2006-04-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

You deserve to know about this discussion by Maggie Bowman of an urban Catholic phenomenon called -- get this -- "ass Mass":It's a Catholic mass geared towards young adults who might want to kill two birds with one stone. Find God and find a honey, all in the same building, all in the same hour.Read it.

Pray, pray, pray

2006-03-20T11:10:00.000-06:00

IChThUS IMPRIMIS [from Patriot Post.US] "Rather than praying to God the same way you talk to your store-bound spouse-merely listing the things you want Him to get you-you should confine yourself to enumerating the blessings you already have. In fact, you could do it in alphabetical order-picking one blessing for every letter. If you follow my advice, your only problem will be choosing

Kissing for peace . . .

2006-03-19T12:31:00.000-06:00

. . . which is yet more on the Great "Shake, rattle" controversy -- handshake as kiss of peace before Catholic communion. * Bob O. suggests kiss and non-kiss sections of church, the ushers asking your preference. * Bob K. considers church ideal for meeting, greeting, and otherwise being nice to people. * Margaret reminds us that church is for God, not us: Ask not what God can do

More on "Shake . . . "

2006-03-17T16:07:00.000-06:00

Reader Jennifer finds Margaret's comment that we have "slipped from the meaning of Mass as sacrifice," etc. "so very true" and finds Bob K's use of "power," as in "our gathering of power from the spirit," misguided. "Next to 'love,'" she says, "'power' is the most seductive and misapplied word of our time." As for Margaret's asking rhetorically, "Can a New Mass that so obscures its own

Catholic? No problem

2006-03-17T09:47:00.000-06:00

If you are a good Catholic girl at any # of Catholic colleges, or a bad one, for that matter, your school's web site will help you get an abortion. Hey, no problem. We're inclusive. Read about it here.

Comment on comment on "Shake . . . "

2006-03-16T12:08:00.000-06:00

This points up the divide, in terms of religion astherapy vs. as sacrifice, people-centered vs.God-centered, that separates Catholics. It's fromReader Margaret, reacting to Bob K's enthusiasticendorsement of the kiss of peace as widely practiced: We've slipped from the meaning of Mass assacrifice, not as gathering for celebration. The ideaof "our gathering of power from the spirit" sums

Shake, rattle, COMMENT

2006-03-14T20:44:00.000-06:00

Pointed, piquant comments on "Shake . . . ": ==================================== Sometimes it is good for Christians to reach out . . . and communicate with each other. The MASS is as good a time as any and better than most to do so. It is when we GATHER TOGETHER to worship and celebrate the Transubstantiation and our gathering of power from the spirit . . . . If we can't talk to each

Shake . . .

2006-03-13T09:32:00.000-06:00

. . . rattle and roll? Nope. Shake hand with all your neighbors, and kiss the colleens all? Nope. Shake with fear for the judgment to come, you the unrepentant sinner? Nope. SHAKE AND SAY, "THE PEACE OF CHRIST BE WITH YOU"? YES! It happens at mass after the Our Father, a.k.a. Lord's Prayer, during which you may have held hands in a show of solidarity against Satan or watched others do so.

Il papa, yes!

2006-03-02T21:29:00.000-06:00

Want to hear very encouraging things about Benedict XVI? Go here, to Gates of Vienna, for a rich discussion of him as human, even humanist -- he had journalist Oriana Fallaci, an atheist indicted for dissing Islam, over for tea and crumpets and loves cats and Mozart -- and as not Euro-politically correct as regards Islamists. He sent a smart Brit to Egypt as his ambassador, for instance.

Ditch cross, add millstone

2006-03-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

A psychologist called on by the bishops four years ago to look at clergy abuse has hard advice for Cardinal George.

Seminary driver

2006-03-01T15:36:00.000-06:00

The seminary student, now ex-seminary student, at St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL, who drove the car that crashed on seminary grounds last September pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and aggravated DUI and faces up to 10 years in prison, vs. the 28 he could have gotten if found guilty by a jury. He had swerved to avoid a deer, said Colleen Dolan for the Chicago archdiocese. Two passengers

Jesuit guilty

2006-02-24T18:59:00.000-06:00

Rev. Donald McGuire was found guilty in Wisconsin of molesting two Loyola Academy-Wilmette students in the 60s. "I feel like yelling hallelujah," said one of the accusers, Victor Bender, 53. A Cook County-Ill. civil suit vs. the Jesuits has been on hold while the criminal prosecution took its course. Presumably, it will be resumed. During closing arguments Thursday, defense

Jesuits in the dock

2006-02-21T21:36:00.000-06:00

A judge in Alaska threw out a civil suit against the Fairbanks Catholic diocese and the Oregon province of the Jesuits on grounds of statute of limitations, saying the woman should have made her claim earlier. She had sued Rev. James Poole, SJ, for abusing and getting her pregnant when she was 14. Two other women have settled for $1 million in one case, an undisclosed sum in another

Reaching out

2006-02-20T10:51:00.000-06:00

Would Cardinal George like this comment back, as in Chi Trib, talking up the Festival of Faith in Rosemont this past weekend? "People are isolated in their parishes at times . . . The people have come in, and in greater numbers than last time. They feel very encouraged." Isolated in parishes? Us huddled masses? As opposed to living on State Parkway in a ten-chimney brick house?

Jesuit on trial

2006-02-17T12:33:00.000-06:00

Fr. Donald McGuire, SJ, 75, goes on trial today in Elkhorn, WI on sexual-abuse charges about events that happened in the late 60s, when McGuire was a teacher at Loyola Academy, Wilmette, IL, and the accusers were students. Two men, now ages 53 and 52, testified at a preliminary hearing in April that McGuire touched their genitals at a Fontana residence between spring of 1967 and

About "Get him to a monk-ery"

2006-02-07T14:09:00.000-06:00

Unbelievable/believable.You can see in [Joliet Bishop Imesch's] testimony it's a mindset. There is no sense of sin. It doesn't exist for this guy, er, bishop. Not even in a secular sense -- an abuse of power -- a priest and a 14-year old little girl. Doesn't give the bishop a queasy feeling. Immune to a sense of sin. Chilling. And of course, the priest-perps -- no sense of sin,

Lutheran troubles

2006-02-06T17:43:00.000-06:00

Egad, the pastor arrested for trespassing in what presumably is his own pulpit is of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, whose secondary founder (after Jesus) had his own problems with legally constituted authority, as we know from our study of the Protestant Reformation. It's a turf dispute of the first order, but he was arrested on a charge that may not stick. The synod is connectional,

Get him to a monk-ery

2006-02-03T18:59:00.000-06:00

During a deposition in August, Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said a priest skinny-dipping and playing poker in the nude with young boys was "inappropriate," but because Imesch did not consider it to be sexual abuse, he moved the priest to another parish, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.Now. How many people think that priest should have been sent to a monastery for complete makeover

George troubled

2006-02-03T07:32:00.000-06:00

Again, what gives with Cardinal George, beleaguered CEO of the multi-million-dollar-budgeted, thousands-of-employees Chicago archdiocese, who tells reporters his personal problems as if in therapy or the confessional?He’s “troubled” he didn’t act sooner, says Sun-Times head. "I'm saddened by my own failure,” he said -- very much so. I pray that there will be nobody who has been abused by Father

Sickened

2006-02-02T09:29:00.000-06:00

Another horror story from the rectory:Therese says she was 7 years old when she met "Father Ben."It was the late 1960s, and the Rev. Joseph Bennett was a young, good-looking, "cool" priest fresh out of seminary and assigned to St. John de la Salle Roman Catholic Church at 102nd and King Drive, where he helped teach catechism to public school kids such as Therese once a week, she says.Bennett

Mitchell on Keeley on McCormack

2006-01-31T10:15:00.000-06:00

For Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell, as is too often the case, the St. Agatha business comes down to “race and class.” But she does give lots of space to reader Bob Keeley, a St. Barnabas parishioner, he told her — but also a head-over-heels advocate and worker for his old parish, St. Felicitas, in a failed attempt to save it in the past year — and his impassioned defense of priests in ghetto

Cardinal at St. Agatha

2006-01-31T07:54:00.000-06:00

At meeting with St. Agatha parishioners, here and here, Cardinal George repeated something he’d said before, that all he knew of Fr. Dan McCormack as sexual abuser (predator) last August was that he’d been questioned by police, which was not enough to get him out of the rectory. Why not? is the question, of course. In this day and age of sexual predators and increased awareness of them? It’s

George speaks

2006-01-29T10:38:00.000-06:00

Sun-Times woman Falsani does Cardinal George a big favor with her lead today:Somberly, in a voice tempered by pain and contrition, Cardinal Francis George for more than an hour Saturday afternoon answered questions from reporters for the first time about the Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest who was charged last week with sexually abusing two boys.“The sins of priests and bishops destroy

Cardinal on defense

2006-01-27T18:51:00.000-06:00

Very strange comment by Cardinal George, that it’s wrong that one should be “punished” because of a story that has not been investigated. Isn’t the issue whether potential victims should be protected? That’s Illinois Appellate Court Judge Anne Burke’s position. She headed the National Review Board, a lay watchdog group. Kids come first, she said. Get the guy out of the rectory for their sake

Nun's tale

2006-01-26T10:56:00.000-06:00

Such a horror-filled story! The priest fills every category for the Going My Way ideal — seminary mentor living with sems, beloved pastor in black parish, one of big family including his brother the cop whom he’s living with now, popular preacher, etc. — and such accusations! Horrible.The latest is in Chi Trib and Sun-Times but much moreso in the latter, where the hard-working Cathleen Falsani

Wheaton College prof fired for converting

2006-01-10T08:18:00.000-06:00

"I was sad to be leaving my colleagues and students and an institution I valued very highly," said [Joshua] Hochschild, 33. "But I support in principle the right of the institution to have exclusive hiring policies. Not every institution is a liberal democracy. We both agreed that Wheaton has a right to exclude Catholics if it wants to. We both agree there are significant differences between what

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, pleeeeeez!

2005-12-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

Is Lisa Madigan autocratic or not? She threatens alleged price-gouging gas stations, saying give $1G to Red Cross or else. [See: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gas23.html] Who does this lady think she is, stepdaughter of the Dem who runs the state senate?Better yet, who does St. Ignatius College Prep think she is, an alum? No, indeed, her school is a a much more expensive one,

Let these people go?

2005-12-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

Letting lay people read at mass and give out communion is "like taking children to a fire station and letting them wear the firefighters’ hats," says Russell Shaw in Crisis magazine [where this essay is not available online], 12/05. These lay ministers, who number in the tens of thousands in the U.S., are "moved by generous impulse" and "are badly needed" in understaffed parishes," he adds. But

Pregnant, unmarried, fired

2005-11-29T20:56:00.000-06:00

"I don't understand how a religion that prides itself on being forgiving could terminate me because I am unmarried and choose to have a baby," said a teacher in a Catholic school in Queens, NY, who came to work pregnant and unmarried.Question: Is there a difference between forgiving and condoning? Question: She thought there would be no problem? Adolescent girls wouldn’t think it’s OK to go all

Music hath charms

2005-11-28T08:46:00.000-06:00

“The prose and music emanating from the church left me mesmerised,” says Rev. Matthew Das, S.J., a convert from Hinduism and the first Assamese to be ordained a Jesuit priest. He joined the Jesuits in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1992, was ordained Nov. 20. His first assignment is to Assumption Church, in Kathmandu.He intends to “use the spirituality of Church music to strengthen Nepali culture” — a

Jesuits in Alaska

2005-11-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

Very bad news out of Alaska, where Jesuits have had to pay $1 million so far for sexual abuse of various women and girls by one priest, for a total so far of $7.5 million. See The Oregonian and the Tacoma News-Tribune.More on this from the Oregonian story: the Oregon provincial is “asking priestly communities to reduce expenses.” As things are shaping up, this won’t cover it, however: "If all

SOMETHING FOR ALL SOULS DAY

2005-11-02T21:16:00.000-06:00

The rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say, is that the good-guy priest mentioned yesterday was himself accused, the mother thinks falsely. She and others knew about the molester, as recounted here yesterday. But nobody reported the good guy, seven or eight years older and now also dead. Indeed, the mother remembers him as "a holy guy, innocent." She had him as her regular confessor. As said

SOMETHING FOR ALL SAINTS DAY

2005-11-01T21:42:00.000-06:00

Consider this account of a priest molester of 30 or so years ago, now dead. As a young priest he did a sex survey of the 7th- and 8th-graders in the parish school, posting results on the rectory stairway."The guy's nuts," said another young priest, showing the poster to a school mother. He would beckon boys out of class one by one into the coach’s room, a secluded area, where he had the boys "

Provincial defends gay priests

2005-10-24T21:15:00.000-05:00

The New York Jesuit provincial has registered vigorous semipublic protest against banning gays from the priesthood, calling it “insulting to demean [the] memory and . . . years of service [of gay Jesuit priests] by even hinting that they were unfit for priesthood because of their sexual orientation.” Rev. Gerald Chojnacki did so in a letter 9/26/05 to Jesuits of his province, one of whom gave it

Seminarians charged

2005-10-22T16:41:00.000-05:00

Two St. Mary of the Lake-Mundelein seminarians, the driver and the owner of the car that crashed Sept. 15, killing two other seminarians, were indicted Wednesday Oct. 19 on multiple felony charges, reports Kansas City Star, home newspaper of the two who died. They are Robert Spaulding, 27, of Evansville, Wyo., on two counts of reckless homicide and eight counts of aggravated driving under the

2005-10-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GODReaders may profit from Sun-Times’s 10/6/05 story about the kickoff exhibit at Loyola U’s new museum featuring an all-but-outed gay Italian artist who portrayed his male subjects as looking provocatively at the viewer. What’s to complain about some brief, lucid art history? Whether Loyola profits from it is another story, in view of comments (italics added) by its

2005-09-22T17:24:00.000-05:00

Pioneer Press has more on the seminarian-crash story, in its Mundelein Review. It raises the question whether charges would be filed against the pizzeria, Emil’s, on Route 176 in Mundelein, for over-serving the driver. More:Neither of the deceased were wearing seat belts. Both were outside the car by the time help arrived, but it is unclear to what degree, if any, the young men had been moved.

Canary talks

2005-09-22T16:34:00.000-05:00

That’s Rev. John Canary, rector of St. Mary of the Lake Sem-Mundelein, hitherto silent on the drunk-driving wee-hours twice-fatal car crash last Thursday. He said seminary authorities will “review policies” and make changes about drinking and off-campus activities.Chi Trib’s Manya A. Brachear and Margaret Ramirez, both semi-regulars on religion coverage, raised the question of lowered admission

Facing time

2005-09-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

Robert Spaulding, the 27–year-old driver of the seminary-grounds crashed car, has been charged."He's now looking at a special Class 2 aggravated DUI, which is punishable by 6 to 28 years in the Department of Corrections," said Suzanne Willett of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office.Cardinal Francis George, who is “very upset,” went to the seminary Monday night, NBC5’s Mary Ann Ahern reported

2005-09-21T08:34:00.000-05:00

Columbus diocesan officials knew about Mark Rowlands’ indictment and guilty plea. Robin Miller, a spokeswoman for the Columbus diocese, said Rowlands told officials there about his guilty plea before beginning his studies at St. Mary's. Miller said the charges were "not of a real concern" to the diocese."Based on our knowledge of the situation and communication with him, we were satisfied,"

Seminarian put on leave

2005-09-20T16:25:00.000-05:00

Update from Catholic News Service: Mark Rowlands has been "placed on a leave of absence to attend to health and legal issues arising from the accident," his (Columbus) diocese said today. The bishop, Frederick F. Campbell, and seminary officials "will confer to consider what action they will take on the matter" after the police investigation is completed, the diocese added.Cath News Service (

More bad, bad news of Mundelein sem crash

2005-09-20T14:21:00.000-05:00

Chi Trib has “Seminarian had Ohio rap sheet. Man in fatal crash lost sheriff's job” in which the 36–year-old from Columbus turns out “a former Ohio sheriff's captain who resigned in 2001 following charges stemming from a corruption probe.” During the crash investigation, Ohio and local officials revealed that [Mark] Rowlands was indicted in February 2000 on felony charges of bribery, perjury and

Vatican man in Atlanta

2005-09-20T10:46:00.000-05:00

What makes a school Catholic, per Vatican’s man for Catholic Education — title is Secretary of the Congregation for Cath Ed, name is Archbishop J. Michael Miller, late of U. of St. Thomas in Houston, where he was president.Has to be:1. "Inspired by a supernatural vision." Schools are about preparing students for "heavenly citizenship."2. "Founded on a Christian anthropology." Education is the "

Seminary crasher was deputy sheriff?

2005-09-19T11:07:00.000-05:00

The sheriff deputy badges that got seminarian Mark Rowlands charged with impersonating a police officer are explained in part in this blurb he posted on the “Seek Holiness” web site:I am 1987 graduate of Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster [Ohio]. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in English from St. Meinrad Seminary [Indiana] in 1991. After college, I decided to enter the workforce, and for

Churchgoing in two towns

2005-09-18T11:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon in Crystal Lake, the Congregationalist minister spoke Christian language unblinkingly, as about “letting Christ into your lives” said to the couple whom he pronounced husband and wife “in the name of the Father and the Son and of Holy Spirit.” This from a member of the United Church of Christ (from merger with Evangelical United Brethren many years back), which Time Mag’s (

Seminarian crash again

2005-09-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

The St. Mary of the Lake-Mundelein seminarian charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI was freed on $50G bail Saturday. Prosecutors had asked $500G. He is to appear Tuesday at the court house in Waukegan.The four were on their way back from “having dinner at a restaurant,” spokeswoman Colleen Dolan of the Archdiocese of Chicago told AP (not at a bar, as “authorities” told Chi Trib).

Another dead after SML crash

2005-09-17T09:41:00.000-05:00

A second seminarian died after the 1:42 a.m. crash on St. Mary of the Lake-Mundelein grounds Thursday. The driver was charged with reckless homicide & DUI; the other survivor, a passenger and the car’s owner, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and false impersonation of a police officer because of handgun, ammo, and sheriff deputy badges found in glove compartment. They had

More on investigation of seminaries

2005-09-16T19:16:00.000-05:00

The head of a national priests’ group objects to the focus on homosexuality:"We need not to focus on specific homosexuality, but we need to focus on the integration of our own human sexuality and the ability to live a deeply committed virginal life that is fully and wholly sexual," said Rev. Robert Silva, of the National Federation of Priests Councils. Only one of six must-answer questions asked

St. Mary of the Lake crash, investigation

2005-09-16T17:53:00.000-05:00

It’s grief counseling for St. Mary of the Lake seminarians now in the wake of the death of one of them and serious to moderate injuries of three others whose car smashed into a tree on seminary grounds in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Police smelled alcohol and say it was a factor in the accident.Meanwhile, the seminary, U.S.’s largest with students from around the country, can expect a

A Strong Woman

2005-08-23T22:18:00.000-05:00

Here in Wall St. (Opinion) Journal is a remarkable interview with Oriana Fallaci, the Italian newswoman who faces prison for “vilifying” Islam. In her mid-70s and cancer-ridden, she is extremely pessimistic about Europe, or “Eurabia,” as she calls it and finds her only soulmate in him whom she calls only “Ratzinger,” namely Pope Benedict XVI:"I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger.

Hurry and read . . .

2005-06-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

. . . this Post-Dispatch column by a confessed descendant of Orangemen about his Catholic-raised daughter confirmed a few years back by then auxiliary bishop Ed Braxton. I said the guy is smart (Bp. B., that is). The easy-as-you-go columnist, Bill McClellan, says Belleville will find it interesting under newly installed Bp. Braxton — “are in for a treat.” FYI, all you Catholics out there.

Shakes alive! Catholic Shakers!

2005-06-28T20:06:00.000-05:00

Replying to my saying I worship with Lefebrists, where there’s “no shaking hands at communion time,” Reader J. asked, “Does this mean if Mel Gibson comes to town and attends mass there, I can't shake his hand? Damn tootin’.She continued:I am most put off by glad-handing. The other day I shook hands with the same woman twice. The ushers even shake hands of those with aisle seats during the Agnus

Fessio to San Fran?

2005-06-25T07:05:00.000-05:00

Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ the next archbishop of San Francisco? Veteran religion writer Gerald Renner reports it as a possibility in the (London) Tablet. It would put Fr. F’s fellow Jesuits “on suicide watch,” says U. of San Francisco philosophy professor Raymond Dennehy, a Fessio supporter. Fr. F has been a thorn in Jesuits’ sides since returning from Europe a born-again conservative in the mold

Braxton beef continued

2005-06-22T16:06:00.000-05:00

Chi Trib has an excellent rundown by Manya A. Brachear, who should have been named in my Chicago Newspapers blog as exception to Trib’s giving short shrift to religion reporting. The reporting on this story seems quite thorough, and the piece reads well, that is, easily. She sets the scene:Braxton's appointment--three times faster than most--was announced just weeks after priests and laity had

Beef vs. Braxton

2005-06-16T21:01:00.000-05:00

What’s the beef against Bishop Ed Braxton in Belleville? Nearest one can tell from news accounts is (a) the money he wants to spend on his house and (b) a lack of customary consultation before he was appointed, two months after his predecessor, Bp. Wilton Gregory, left for Atlanta. This from Belleville’s News-Democrat has it clear enough:Controversy over Braxton's appointment to replace Wilton

Belleville v. Braxton

2005-06-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

Bishop Ed Braxton, formerly pastor of St. Catherine-St. Lucy parish, Oak Park, is running into priestly opposition as he prepares for installation as bishop of downstate Belleville. See St. Louis Post-Dispatch here and here. A Belleville priests’ delegation has met with Cardinal George in Chicago, but George won’t admit it. Some priests also went to Washington to meet the apostolic delegate.

Holy skinback!

2005-06-15T09:38:00.000-05:00

‘Ach, du lieber’ — “Wir habeneinen Papst” means “The pope is oneof us,” not “Long live the pope,” thanks to a vigilant Clips reader.No, not Pope Benedict XVI.— Dolores Madlener in Catholic New World 6/5/05, displaying just enough modesty to avoid getting arrested.

Call the cops

2005-06-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

SNAP's Barbara Blaine wants Cardinal George to visit the two parishes that lost pastors this week to apparently credible sex-abuse charges and "emphatically urge victims and witnesses to call the police and prosecutors." However, he is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on this one, as shepherd of his flock (parishioners) and as father figure to the priests under his domain. He