Will Things Be Different Under Pope Francis?

From the first days of the new Pope’s reign things seemed different. 

Traditionalists were aghast the Francis didn’t wear an ermine cape when he first appeared on the balcony after being elected. Then he washed the feet of women (gasp!) on Holy Thursday. One can hope things are different…or perhaps the change is more in style than substance. Instead of Benedict’s rule with an iron fist, is it now an iron fist in a velvet glove? Reports are that Francis has already affirmed the investigations into American nuns. Time will tell, but at least Maureen Fiedler writing in the NCR questions this latest piece coming out of the Vatican.

Did Pope Francis get enough information on the LCWR mandate?

Maureen Fiedler  |  Apr. 16, 2013 NCR Today

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious has posted a statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in which Archbishop Gerhard Müller of the doctrinal congregation said he talked to Pope Francis about the LCWR mandate and claims the pope affirmed it.

I am frankly very skeptical of that information. First, I doubt this issue is on the top of the new pope's agenda or that he had much knowledge of this when he was an archbishop in Argentina.

And what does "affirm" mean? Affirm what? Some general, vague report? Did Müller give him a full explanation, talk about the opposition to it among U.S. Catholics or give him an outline of the actions proposed? Did he talk about the accusation that says U.S. women religious spend too much time on social justice and not enough on other issues? I frankly doubt the new pope would "affirm" that.

Did he even mention the questions raised by LCWR at the meeting several months ago? I doubt he gave both sides.

It could be a case of the "good 'ole boys" in the Curia wanting everything to remain the same and trying to make the new pope go along on an issue about which he knows little.

Two things: First, this is a wait-and-see situation. Second, LCWR would be well-advised to seek a private audience with Pope Francis to explain the full story.

The Vocation Overseas Pipeline

In a December blog it was noted that there has been a slow-down in the number of ordinations in Poland. That, in turn, affects the recruitment of Polish priests and seminarians by US dioceses’ (including Chicago) to bolster their own dwindling and graying clergy.

So from where do dioceses import their priests now? Africa, and more specifically, Nigeria. At least that’s Chicago’s experience. Spokesman Fr. Jerry Boland said there were currently 160 international priests (ordained overseas) working in Chicago.  The largest single group is from Nigeria. This is not counting international religious-order priests or foreign-born seminarians studying to be ordained for Chicago.

Reports say the 24% of US major seminarians are foreign-born. Bishops counter complaints of some priests and laity about the newcomer’s language and cultural difficulties, by pointing to the gift of their valid and licit sacramental work. Other critics see the US Church wielding economic enticements to deprive other countries of their native vocations where the priest/parishioner ratio is often more desperate than in the United States.

Another Blow to Ecumenism?

The Vatican's had some  "success" with a special ordinate for disaffected Anglicans. Anglican bishops and priests were encouraged to "swim the Tiber" with their wives and congregations to become this special brand of Catholics and married Catholic priests. Now Rueters reports Roman ambitions to coax some Lutherans to defect to Rome.

Lutherans bristle at suggestion of joining Catholic Church

Tue, Jan 22 2013

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS (Reuters) - Two leading Lutheran clerics have rejected suggestions from the Vatican that it could create a subdivision for converted Lutherans similar to its structures for Anglicans who join the Roman Catholic Church.

The dispute, concerning tiny numbers of believers but major issues in ecumenical relations, comes as the churches mark the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this week.

Rev Martin Junge, the Chilean-born secretary general of the World Lutheran Federation (WLF), said in a statement that the suggestion caused great concern and would "send wrong signals to LWF member churches around the world."

Bishop Friedrich Weber, the German Lutheran liaison with the Catholic Church, said the idea was unthinkable and amounted to "an unecumenical incitement to switch sides."

The Vatican announced special structures for disaffected Anglicans in 2009, creating a so-called ordinariate so conservatives opposed to female and homosexual bishops could become Catholic while retaining some of their traditions.

Several thousand Anglicans, including dozens of priests and a few bishops, have joined ordinariates established in England, Australia and Canada. Married clergy are exempted from the obligatory celibacy of the Catholic priesthood.

Relations among Christian churches have improved greatly since the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council and most now see each other more as partners than as competitors. A Catholic bishop attended an ecumenical service Weber celebrated last Sunday.

But this Vatican welcome has raised suspicions among some Protestants that the huge Catholic Church, which makes up half the world's 2.2 billion Christians, now wants to woo away believers from smaller churches torn by internal debate.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/22/us-religion-lutheran-catholic-idUSBRE90L0HQ20130122

Christmas Blessings

Polish Vocations Dip

There was a kind of “golden age” for priest and religious vocations in the United States during the 1950’s and 60’s. Seminaries were full and record numbers were ordained. The turmoil of modern times shook that simpler time, and the Catholic church was unable to evolve in a manner to address the relevance of these traditional lifestyles and hierarchies to the questions of a new age.

Rather than creatively deal with these questions raised, in part by Vatican II, the bishops of JPII responded with a return to nostalgic traditionalism. In the dearth of younger clergy, bishops replaced US vocations with men from 2^nd and 3^rd world countries. Several of these countries were currently experiencing their own “golden age of vocations.” These countries were often in isolated and less affluent parts of the world that hadn’t yet “come of age.” Among these countries was Poland, and for a decade many American dioceses relied on imported Polish priests and seminarians. Though still significant, the numbers are slowing – perhaps because Poland itself is changing, more-open to questioning the Church’s ultimate authority in dictating social and political issues.

A recent report shows that Polish priesthood ordinations are down one-third in the last decade, and new women aspirants to religious life is down 66% since 2005. Here’s a link to an article for more information…

http://ncronline.org/news/global/secularizing-pressures-hit-polish-church

A Few Words of Encouragement

92 Year Old Priest a Threat to the Status Quo?

This picture shows Fr. Brennan (age 90) with a friend, about the time he was arrested for protesting the School of the Americas. The SOA os where the Department of Defense “allegedly” trains foreign operatives in intelligence protest suppression and interrogation techniques. US officials state that even if graduates commit war crimes after they return to their home country, the school itself should not be held accountable for their actions.

 Now the Wisconsin Jesuit is being disciplined by Bishop Jerome Listecki and other Church authorities for participating in a Mass with an ordained woman! Link to full article…. http://ncronline.org/news/people/jesuit-penalized-after-eucharistic-liturgy-woman-priest