Fellay: “Things are at a standstill, we cannot sign”

See: http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/fellay-lefevrianiani-lefebvrianos-lefebvrians-16414/

Our Lady of the Revelation at Tre Fontane

For story behind image see http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/our-lady-of-the-revelation-at-tre-fontane/

Pope approves Archbishop Sheen's heroic virtues, step toward sainthood

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has approved the heroic virtues of U.S. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the Vatican announced June 28, clearing the way for the advancement of his sainthood cause.

Among the others honored in decrees announced the same day were first prelate of Opus Dei, the Canadian and Irish-American founders of two orders of religious women, a priest murdered by the Sicilian Mafia, and 154 martyrs killed during the Spanish Civil War.

Archbishop Sheen heroically lived Christian virtues and should be considered "venerable," said a decree issued by the Congregation for Saints' Causes and signed by Pope Benedict. Before the archbishop can be beatified, the Vatican must recognize that a miracle has occurred through his intercession.

The decree came just more than 13 months after Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria, Ill., presented Pope Benedict with two thick volumes about the life of Archbishop Sheen, whose home diocese was Peoria.

Archbishop Sheen, who was born in Illinois in 1895 and died in New York in 1979, was an Emmy-winning televangelist. His program, "Life is Worth Living," aired in the United States from 1951 to 1957.

 
Last September, a tribunal of inquiry was sworn in to investigate the allegedly miraculous healing of a newborn whose parents had prayed to the archbishop's intercession.

The Vatican also announced papal decrees approving the beatification of 158 men and women, including 156 martyrs, all but two of them Spaniards, killed during their country's 1936-39 Civil War.

Father Giuseppe Puglisi, a Sicilian priest and activist against organized crime who was killed by the Mafia in 1993, was another of the martyrs recognized.

Martyrs do not need a miracle attributed to their intercession in order to be beatified. However, miracles must be recognized by the Vatican in order for martyrs to be canonized.

Other decrees recognized the heroic virtues of eight men and women, including:

-- Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, the first prelate of Opus Dei.

-- Mother Marie-Josephte Fitzbach, founder of the Good Shepherd Sisters of Quebec.

-- Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, the Irish-born founder of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, who died in New York state in 1984.

END

Tony Blair's Wife Attacks Stay-At-Home Moms for Turning Their Backs on Feminism

LifeSiteNews.com June 20, 2012:

Cherie Blair, wife of the former British prime minister, has said that she worries young women are turning their backs on feminism by regarding motherhood as an acceptable alternative to a career.
“Every woman needs to be self-sufficient and in that way you really don’t have a choice - for your own satisfaction,” Blair told Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women event held at Claridge’s in London last night, according to The Telegraph. “You hear these yummy mummies talk about being the best possible mother and they put all their effort into their children.”
“Yummy mummy” is a UK slang term typically used to describe young, attractive women who live on their husband’s wealth, staying home full-time with their children.
Blair suggested that children raised in households with a full-time mom lack a sense of independence and can’t make their way in the world because their moms don’t have “professional ambition.” “I also want to be the best possible mother, but I know that my job as a mother includes bringing my children up so actually they can live without me,” she remarked.
Adding that women who decide to get married to rich men and “retire” at home are unfulfilled and “dangerous,” Blair said, “you think how can they even imagine that is the way to fulfil yourself, how dangerous it is.”
Blair said her view of motherhood was shaped by her own experience of her father abandoning her mother when she was a child.
Blair’s remarks are reminiscent of the heated controversy that erupted in the United States in April, when a Democrat strategist accused the wife of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney of having “never actually worked a day in her life.”
In the midst of the backlash, supporters of stay-at-home moms pointed to a study conducted this year that values a stay-at-home mother’s work at nearly $113K per year.
In a survey of thousands of stay-at-home moms, Salary.com came up with $112,962 as the right compensation for the domestic daily grind - considering the market rate for the hours worked as cooks, teachers, child psychologists, drivers and chief executives.
Ann Romney fiercely defended her decision to stay at home, taking to Twitter to say, “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” To which one of Romney’s sons, Josh, added, “@AnnDRomney is one of the smartest, hardest working woman I know. Could have done anything with her life, chose to raise me.”
Pro-family advocates point to the abundant research available on the beneficial effect of a parent staying home to raise their children that contradicts Mrs. Blair’s assertions.
Brian Rushfeldt, Executive Director of the Canada Family Action Coalition, has pointed out the “researched evidence that shows that when a parent stays home with a child there’s much more likelihood the child will be better adjusted and also less likely, as evidence shows, of getting into crime or drugs or sex issues. …  Parents do a better job of raising their children than somebody else can.”
Dave Quist, Executive Director of the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, previously told LifeSiteNews, “The body of research is quite clear that children do best when raised by their own, married, biological, mom and dad.”
“With regards to having a mom or a dad stay at home with their children,” Quist observed, “there’s also evidence that kids do best when that takes place. They are nurtured best. I mean who knows better how to treat a child - mom or dad, or a childcare worker? ... Moms and dads care and love their kids the most, and so that’s obviously in the best interests of the child.”
Gwen Landolt of REAL Women Canada said that although the economic structure of Western society is stacked against stay-at-home parents, “We need to recognize the tremendous value of stay-at-home mothers, and society hasn’t done enough of that.”
“They say the woman, especially an educated woman, is wasted [if she raises her own children]. Hardly. She’s making the most magnificent contribution imaginable to society … It’s time society recognized this tremendous value and contribution,” Landolt stated.

June 24th, Nativity of St. John the Baptist

From http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.ie/2012/06/st-john-baptist-model-for-priests.html

The Precursor’s Nativity is celebrated by the Church because, even from the womb, he chosen and sanctified for his vocation. The Baptist is the greatest of the prophets, and is more than a prophet, for he rejoiced to see the day of the Bridegroom.

While the priest, in very specific moments, acts in persona Christi, most of his ministry is more closely tied to that of St. John the Baptist – directing people to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In this respect, St. John is a model for the priest as “friend of the Bridegroom” and “voice of one crying out in the wilderness”.

On a personal note, St. John the Baptist is particularly dear to me as a model for the priesthood, as I was ordained a priest on the Vigil of his Nativity three years ago.

“John” is his name, and a priest is called “Father”

And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. (Luke 1:59-64)

Having received his vocation when still in the womb, the Baptist was not named after his father nor after any in his family line, but rather received a new name from the Lord. St. John was not called merely to be a member of his own family, but rather was singled out from among millions to be the forerunner of the Christ. In this way, John did not so much lose his family identity, as gain a new and fuller identity in God.

So too it is with the priest. While religious often take on a new name, leaving behind their baptismal name, diocesan priests keep their given name but are now called by a new name: Father.

True, in many countries the people call the priest not “Father” but rather some variation of “Lord” or “Sir”, but the point remains the same. Upon his ordination, the priest is no longer named simply by his parents, but he is called by a new title which comes from God through the Church. His identity is no longer tied so much to his natural family, but to his spiritual family – he is now the “Father” of many, since he has been called to pastor the flock of Christ.

How necessary it is for priests to be called “Father”! We forget who the priest is, and what he is meant to be for the people, if we simply call him by his first name!

Even his own family should get into the habit of calling the priest “Father” – for he is no longer merely a son or brother or uncle, he is now called to be a priest even for those to whom he had previously been bound only by natural ties. If he was once his parents’ son, now he is their pastor, their father, and he must give his life in service for their spiritual benefit.

John was clothed in camel’s hair, and a priest wears clerics

And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying: There cometh after me one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. (Mark 1:6-8)

St. John the Baptist did not dress in fine linens like a king, nor did he dress as common folk do, rather he had a distinctive apparel in order to more clearly designate his distinctive vocation.

It should be clear (not only from Canon Law and Church tradition, but also from the writings of saints and the example of good and holy priests) that a priest ought almost always to wear his clerical garb when in public (most especially the cassock, but at least the modern clerics). St. John the Baptist didn’t walk around in a t-shirt and jeans, nor did he wear a fancy suit – neither should the priest dress like a layman.

We will give an excerpt from the “Directory on the Ministry and Life of Priests” (n. 66) from the Congregation for the Clergy, approved and authorized by Bl. John Paul II on 31 January 1994:

“In a secularised and materialistic society, where the external signs of sacred and supernatural realities tend to disappear, it is particularly important that the community be able to recognise the priest, man of God and dispenser of his mysteries, by his attire as well, which is an unequivocal sign of his dedication and his identity as a public minister.

“For this reason, the clergy should wear ‘suitable ecclesiastical dress, in accordance with the norms established by the Episcopal Conference and the legitimate local custom’.(CIC, Canon 284) This means that the attire, when it is not the cassock, must be different from the manner in which the laity dress, and conform to the dignity and sacredness of his ministry.

“Outside of entirely exceptional cases, a cleric’s failure to use this proper ecclesiastical attire could manifest a weak sense of his identity as one consecrated to God.”

There you have it: If a priest often is not wearing his cassock (or clerical attire) he probably lacks priestly identity. Let us unite in prayer for our poor priests – so many are so, so confused!

John and the priest: Celibates who defend marriage and family life

For Herod had apprehended John and bound him, and put him into prison, because of Herodias, his brother's wife. For John said to him: It is not lawful for thee to have her. And having a mind to put him to death, he feared the people: because they esteemed him as a prophet. (Matthew 14:3-5)

Finally, we see that St. John, a celibate, died defending the sanctity of marriage. It was not so much his direct and clear proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah, nor even his baptism of repentance, but rather his defense of marriage that set the king against him.

What a model the Baptist is for the priest in this regard. The parish priest of the Latin Church is celibate, yet he is in a unique position to defend marriage and family life!

We consider past saints like Alphonsus Liguori and Francis de Sales, or modern saints like Josemaria Escriva and John Paul II – these priests gave guidance not only to the Church but to the whole world on the true means of attaining to a good, holy, and happy family life. These priests, and countless others, gave their lives of ministry in service of marriage and the family!

And what are the two greatest areas of family life where the parish priest is needed? It seems to me that these are: The family Rosary, and openness to life.

Pray, pray that priests will help families to pray the Rosary together. Bl. John Paul II was convinced of this: If only families will pray the family Rosary, there will be peace in the world and peace in the home! I scarcely can think of any devotion or practice more worthy of priestly promotion than the family Rosary!

And again, pray, pray that your priests will preach against contraception and abortion. So long as Catholics continue to practice contraception, Americans (and secular people of other nations) will commit abortion. Until the home is purified from contraception, the nation will never be free from abortion.

Pray the good Lord to send priests who will preach boldly against contraception. Pray the good Lord to send priests who would willingly sacrifice themselves to save the lives of the millions of children who are aborted each year through the use of the contraceptive pill. Pray that priests will have the courage to speak the truth: That, statistically, if a woman/couple is on the Oral Contraceptive Pill for two years, there has likely been at least one abortion (which would have likely been undetected by the couple) – this is what is meant by a “5% failure rate” which is what the contraceptive companies themselves claim.  Sadly, the rate is even worse for many of the IUDs and other such methods. [for more information on this, please see an article with some good statistics (here)]

And pray that priests will speak out in defense of family life – even if that means they must sacrifice their own lives in the process. What better to die for, than the Christian family?

A final test: Confession and Communion

Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

St. John the Baptist not only proclaimed the Lord’s coming, but pointed him out when at last he came. This is the great privilege of the Forerunner, this is what makes him to be more than a prophet – he led people to Jesus.

So too, the priest’s whole life and ministry can be judged on this one point: Did he lead people to Christ?

And what better means to consider whether a priest has succeeded or failed than to ask whether he has helped the people to receive Christ worthily and devoutly in Holy Communion and whether he has aided his flock in finding Jesus’ absolution of sin through the sacrament of Confession.

If a priest has helped people to make better Confessions and grow in freedom from sin – then he is a good priest.

If a priest has helped the people to make better, more devout, and more worthy Communions – then he is a good priest.

This is the final test for any priest: His whole life, and especially his ministry in the confessional and at the altar, must proclaim: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world.

The Necessity of Last Rites and the Duty of Priests

The New Theological Movement June 19, 2012:

St. Juliana, whose feast is commemorated today, was the niece of St. Alexis Falconieri (one of the seven founders of the Servite Order) and foundress of the Servite Tertiaries, also called the “Mantellate”. She is the patroness of the sick and of those suffering bodily ills – on account of the circumstances of her death, she could well be called the “Patroness of Viaticum”.
When St. Juliana was in her last moments of life, and the priest was called to bring her the Blessed Sacrament as Viaticum, it was determined that she would not be able to receive on account of constant vomiting. She, however, begged the priest to spread a corporal upon her chest and to lay the Host upon it. After the priest did this, in the sight of all present, St. Juliana became radiant and the Host suddenly disappeared – having been miraculously received into her body as the “food for her journey” into eternal life.
We do well then, to consider the importance of Viaticum (Communion before death) as the last Sacrament of the Christian life.
Every baptized Christian of the age of reason is bound to receive Viaticum
Following the canonical tradition, the Church’s liturgical books still explicitly maintain that all Christians of the age of reason are bound to receive Viaticum when in danger of death:

“All baptized Christians who are able to receive communion are bound to receive viaticum by reason of the precept to receive communion when in danger of death from any cause.” (Roman Ritual: Pastoral Care of the Sick, 27)

However, the revised Code of Canon Law (1981) is not quite so explicit in mandating this as a precept:

“The Christian faithful who are in danger of death from any cause are to be nourished by holy communion in the form of Viaticum.” (Can. 921.1)

“Holy Viaticum for the sick is not to be delayed too long; those who have the care of souls are to be zealous and vigilant that the sick are nourished by Viaticum while fully conscious.” (Can. 922)

Still, the theologians have generally maintained that it is not merely a matter of Church law, but even a divine precept that the faithful receive Viaticum when in danger of death. St. Alphonsus Liguori (the Doctor of Moral Theology) maintains that the sick are most likely obligated to receive Viaticum when dying even if they have received Communion within only a few days earlier, and (in some cases) even if they had already received Communion once earlier in that same day if the person was not in danger of death at the time of that previous Communion.
Obviously, this is a major problem for the non-Catholics who do not belong to a Church with valid sacraments. While the Orthodox can certainly fulfill the divine precept of Viaticum, Protestants are in grave danger since they reject our Lord’s gift of the Eucharist and fail to take the food necessary for the journey to eternal life. However, though many fail in their duty to receive Viaticum, we must always trust in the divine Mercy which knows the hearts of all and works in most mysterious ways.
Receiving Communion when death is imminent
So strongly does the Church desire (and insist) that the faithful receive the Eucharist as Viaticum when in proximate danger of death, that she allows for the faithful to receive Viaticum even if they have already received Communion once (or even twice) earlier in the same day.
The Church demands of her priests that they be most attentive to the care of the dying, and that they ensure that all the faithful are given the opportunity to receive Communion in the last moments of life. Indeed, on a practical level, priests will have to work very hard to fulfill all that the Church desires of them. However, it is good to recall that St. Alphonsus insists that the pastoral care of the dying is the most important work in a priest’s life of ministry.
When should Viaticum be given?
The Rite of Viaticum envisions that Mass be celebrated (whenever possible; and, in fact, it is rarely possible) in the home or hospital room of the dying man, and that Communion be given as Viaticum very close to the actual time of death.
However, at the same time, Viaticum is not to be delayed or postponed. Rather, it is desired that the Rite of Viaticum be celebrated when death seems to be close. Then, if the sick person lives on for several days (or even weeks), the Church wishes that the priests return as often as possible, and even daily, to administer the Rite of Viaticum again.
Thus, the Rite of Viaticum can and should be repeated often for those who are close to death. (cf. Pastoral Care of the Sick [PCS], 175-183)

“Priests and other ministers entrusted with the spiritual care of the sick should do everything they can to ensure that those in proximate danger of death receive the body and blood of Christ as Viaticum.” (PCS 176)

“It often happens that a person who has received the Eucharist as viaticum lingers in a grave condition or at the point of death for a period of days or longer. In these circumstances he or she should be given the opportunity to receive the Eucharist as viaticum on successive days, frequently if not daily.” (PCS 183)

Confession and Anointing of the Sick
It goes without saying that those who are in proximate danger of death should make a good confession (perhaps even a general confession of their whole life, if they are able) and (if the death is caused by a sickness or some malady of the body) receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
Even if the sick man has already been anointed at some earlier point in the sickness, as the illness progress and death becomes imminent, it is fitting for him to receive the sacrament of Anointing repeatedly.
The Apostolic Pardon: A final plenary indulgence
When a person is on the point of death, the Church commands priests to offer a plenary indulgence through the Apostolic Pardon. This blessing is not to be given until death is imminent (hence, it ought to be connected more with Viaticum than with Anointing), and the indulgence does not take place immediately upon the act of blessing but rather takes effect upon the very moment of death itself – thus, the temporal punishment for every sin up to the very last moment of life is remitted.
Further, even if a dying person was not able to receive the Apostolic Pardon from a priest, the Church willingly grants the plenary indulgence at the point of death to all those who “have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime.” (Manual of Indulgences, 12.2) The Church recommends that a crucifix be used in disposing the dying person to receive this indulgence.
What is particularly interesting, in the case of a dying person who is not able to receive the Apostolic Pardon from a priest, is that the Church does not require of them the usual conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence – namely, Communion, Confession, and prayers for the Pope. Rather, the Church herself supplies these conditions for all the faithful who are properly disposed at the moment of death!
Who can administer Viaticum?

“The ordinary ministers of viaticum are the parish priest (pastor) and parochial vicars, chaplains, and, for all staying in the house, the superior in clerical religious institutes or societies of apostolic life.

“In the case of necessity or with at least the presumed permission of the competent minister, any priest or deacon may give viaticum, or if no ordained minister is available, any member of the faithful who has been duly appointed.” (PCS 29)

It is clear that the Church firmly desires that priests (and especially pastors) be the ministers of Viaticum. While it is true that this can (in the case of necessity) be delegated to deacons or even to lay people (when there are not even any deacons present), there can be no doubt that it is the duty of priests to provide this most important spiritual care for the dying.
Is this practical?
In the days of modern medicine (in the affluent world, at least), many aspects of the Church’s practical teaching on Viaticum can hardly be followed.
For example, when people die in hospitals it is quite rare for them to be capable of receiving Communion close to death – because they are often either delirious or unconscious for the days leading up to death.
However, what the Church is really asking for is that, so long as the dying man is conscious and able, the priests should regularly bring him Communion as Viaticum. Thus, priests have a grave responsibility to regularly check on the sick and elderly in their parish so as to ensure that they receive Viaticum before becoming so ill as to be unable to receive Communion (either due to delirium or to the inability to swallow).
While it will rarely be possible for Viaticum to be administered within the context of a private Mass in the hospital room or bedroom of the dying patient, and thus Viaticum will scarcely ever be given under both species; nevertheless, the Rite of Viaticum outside of Mass is to be administered by a priest (rather than a deacon or, especially, a lay person) whenever possible.
The faithful have the right and the duty to receive Viaticum from a priest whenever circumstances permit.
There is no other work more important for a priest than the spiritual care of the dying, because there is no other work so closely associated with salvation and final perseverance. If a priest is truly concerned about saving souls, then he will certainly place the care of the dying – especially through Confession, Anointing, and Viaticum (as well as the Apostolic Pardon) – at the very forefront of his life and ministry.
If the Christian faithful have any supernatural love for their dying friends and relatives (especially their parents), they will be sure to call for a priest while the dying person is still conscious and able to receive Holy Viaticum.
St. Juliana, Pray for us!

Top English Doctor Says The English "National Health Service" Kills Off 130,000 Elderly Patients Every Year

Mail Online June 19, 2012:

NHS doctors are prematurely ending the lives of thousands of elderly hospital patients because they are difficult to manage or to free up beds, a senior consultant claimed yesterday.
Professor Patrick Pullicino said doctors had turned the use of a controversial ‘death pathway’ into the equivalent of euthanasia of the elderly.
He claimed there was often a lack of clear evidence for initiating the Liverpool Care Pathway, a method of looking after terminally ill patients that is used in hospitals across the country.
It is designed to come into force when doctors believe it is impossible for a patient to recover and death is imminent.
It can include withdrawal of treatment – including the provision of water and nourishment by tube – and on average brings a patient to death in 33 hours.
There are around 450,000 deaths in Britain each year of people who are in hospital or under NHS care. Around 29 per cent – 130,000 – are of patients who were on the LCP.
Professor Pullicino claimed that far too often elderly patients who could live longer are placed on the LCP and it had now become an ‘assisted death pathway rather than a care pathway’.
He cited ‘pressure on beds and difficulty with nursing confused or difficult-to-manage elderly patients’ as factors. 
Professor Pullicino revealed he had personally intervened to take a patient off the LCP who went on to be successfully treated.
He said this showed that claims they had hours or days left are ‘palpably false’.
In the example he revealed a 71-year-old who was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia and epilepsy was put on the LCP by a covering doctor on a weekend shift.
Professor Pullicino said he had returned to work after a weekend to find the patient unresponsive and his family upset because they had not agreed to place him on the LCP.
‘I removed the patient from the LCP despite significant resistance,’ he said.
‘His seizures came under control and four weeks later he was discharged home to his family,’ he said.
Professor Pullicino, a consultant neurologist for East Kent Hospitals and Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Kent, was speaking to the Royal Society of Medicine in London. 
He said: ‘The lack of evidence for initiating the Liverpool Care Pathway makes it an assisted death pathway rather than a care pathway.
‘Very likely many elderly patients who could live substantially longer are being killed by the LCP.
‘Patients are frequently put on the pathway without a proper analysis of their condition. 
‘Predicting death in a time frame of three to four days, or even at any other specific time, is not possible scientifically.
This determination in the LCP leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. The personal views of the physician or other medical team members of perceived quality of life or low likelihood of a good outcome are probably central in putting a patient on the LCP.’
He added: ‘If we accept the Liverpool Care Pathway we accept that euthanasia is part of the standard way of dying as it is now associated with 29 per cent of NHS deaths.’
The LCP was developed in the North West during the 1990s and recommended to hospitals by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in 2004. 
Medical criticisms of the Liverpool Care Pathway were voiced nearly three years ago. 
Experts including Peter Millard, emeritus professor of geriatrics at the University of London, and Dr Peter Hargreaves, palliative care consultant at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, Surrey, warned of ‘backdoor euthanasia’ and the risk that economic factors were being brought into the treatment of vulnerable patients.
In the example of the 71-year-old, Professor Pullicino revealed he had given the patient another 14 months of life by demanding the man be removed from the LCP.
Professor Pullicino said the patient was an Italian who spoke poor English, but was living with a ‘supportive wife and daughter’. He had a history of cerebral haemorrhage and subsequent seizures.
Professor Pullicino said: ‘I found him deeply unresponsive on a Monday morning and was told he had been put on the LCP. He was on morphine via a syringe driver.’ He added: ‘I removed the patient from the LCP despite significant resistance.’
The patient’s extra 14 months of life came at considerable cost to the NHS and the taxpayer, Professor Pullicino indicated.
He said he needed extensive support with wheelchair, ramps and nursing. 
After 14 months the patient was admitted to a different hospital with pneumonia and put on the LCP. The man died five hours later. 
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘The Liverpool Care Pathway is not euthanasia and we do not recognise these figures. The pathway is recommended by NICE and has overwhelming support from clinicians – at home and abroad – including the Royal College of Physicians.
‘A patient’s condition is monitored at least every four hours and, if a patient improves, they are taken off the Liverpool Care Pathway and given whatever treatments best suit their new needs.’

Altar Rails and the Holy Mass – the significance of.

From http://praythemass.org/2011/12/altar-rails-in-the-holy-mass-the-significance-of/

295. The sanctuary is the place where the altar stands, where the word of God is proclaimed, and where the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers exercise their offices. It should suitably be marked off from the body of the church either by its being somewhat elevated or by a particular structure and ornamentation. – General Instruction of the Roman Missal

Here the Church requires that the sanctuary be marked off, calling for, yes, even now, a particular structure; in other words, an altar rail. The altar rail serves beautiful symbolic and considerately practical purposes within the Mass. Further, it makes basic psychological sense as well. Let me explain.

Firstly, we call it an altar rail; the name has reference to the altar. This rail can be seen as an extension of the altar. Christ becomes present on the altar and invites us to be fed at His altar via the rail. Very often the appearance of the rail matches the appearance or imitates the appearance of the altar. In churches where there is no rail, this symbolism is very diminished or completely destroyed. There is a beautiful parallel in the series of events that lead to the distribution of Holy Communion. Just as the priest goes to the altar, offers the sacrifice, and brings that Sacrament to the altar rail for the faithful, so every Christian is called to Sunday Mass, called to the altar, and, nourished by that Sacrament, is sent out to bring Christ and His gospel to the world through daily life.
Practically, the rail is a help to people, both physically and spiritually. The use of rail and the way Holy Communion is distributed with it sets a solemn pace for the reception of Holy Communion. On the part of the priest, more of his time is spent actually distributing the Blessed Sacrament and less time waiting. On the part of the person receiving, the hurried tone is removed; there is a great opportunity for quiet and prayer both a few moments before and after receiving our Lord. The rail also is a help to people in kneeling and standing back up.

On the psychological level, we all have a desire, built into us by God, to offer Him our love and worship, but all of our efforts will be imperfect. This is a truth we cannot escape. If we deny our short-comings and wrong-doings on our conscious level, we will feel it and suffer on a more subconscious level. Because we know that the ‘sanctuary‘ exists — we know that there is a realm that we are unworthy and unable to enter on our own. We know that our knowledge and power are limited. God, of course, knows this too and created a solution. God sent His Son — His Christ — as the perfect high priest, who in turn instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders, by which He allows and commands men to enter His sanctuary and offer His perfect sacrifice, so that we, the entire Church, may join our imperfect sacrifices to His.  Having a sanctuary that is marked off by an altar rail is not a way of keeping people out of where they have a right to go, but it is more than anything a visible reminder to us of the reality of our situation — we need God to do what we cannot. Our worship of God is not something that we get together and decide to do; it is something that God enables us to do. We cannot worship perfectly, so Christ enables us to join in His perfect act of worship.
The distinct sanctuary and the altar rail are, far from being something restricting, a symbol of a truth that is truly liberating — we need God. With reception of Holy Communion at the rail, we see the second part of that truth — God comes to us. We cannot reach God by our own powers, so He comes to us. Deep within us, we know the first part; we know we need God. If we deny this consciously, we will become a people of sadness, anger, and despair. Is it any wonder that a society that has rejected its need for God is full of people weighed down with despair, depression, and struggles of self-worth? It is precisely by acknowledging that we need God, as the sanctuary and rail remind us, that we are able to acknowledge the joyful truth that God comes to us and thus become people of light, peace, and hope.
– Father Evan Harkins

Full text: Pope's address to Congress

Full text of Pope Benedict XVI's taped address to the closing ceremony of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

With great affection in the Lord, I greet all of you who have gathered in Dublin for the Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress, especially Cardinal Brady, Archbishop Martin, the clergy, religious and faithful of Ireland, and all of you who have come from afar to support the Irish Church with your presence and prayers.

The theme of the Congress – Communion with Christ and with One Another – leads us to reflect upon the Church as a mystery of fellowship with the Lord and with all the members of his body. From the earliest times the notion of koinonia or communio has been at the core of the Church’s understanding of herself, her relationship to Christ her founder, and the sacraments she celebrates, above all the Eucharist. Through our Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ’s death, reborn into the great family of the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ; through Confirmation we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit; and by our sharing in the Eucharist, we come into communion with Christ and each other visibly here on earth. We also receive the pledge of eternal life to come.

The Congress also occurs at a time when the Church throughout the world is preparing to celebrate the Year of Faith to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, an event which launched the most extensive renewal of the Roman Rite ever known. Based upon a deepening appreciation of the sources of the liturgy, the Council promoted the full and active participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic sacrifice. At our distance today from the Council Fathers’ expressed desires regarding liturgical renewal, and in the light of the universal Church’s experience in the intervening period, it is clear that a great deal has been achieved; but it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities. The renewal of external forms, desired by the Council Fathers, was intended to make it easier to enter into the inner depth of the mystery. Its true purpose was to lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist, and thus with the living God, so that through this contact with Christ’s love, the love of his brothers and sisters for one another might also grow. Yet not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and “active participation” has been confused with external activity. Hence much still remains to be done on the path of real liturgical renewal. In a changed world, increasingly fixated on material things, we must learn to recognize anew the mysterious presence of the Risen Lord, which alone can give breadth and depth to our life.

The Eucharist is the worship of the whole Church, but it also requires the full engagement of each individual Christian in the Church’s mission; it contains a call to be the holy people of God, but also one to individual holiness; it is to be celebrated with great joy and simplicity, but also as worthily and reverently as possible; it invites us to repent of our sins, but also to forgive our brothers and sisters; it binds us together in the Spirit, but it also commands us in the same Spirit to bring the good news of salvation to others.

Moreover, the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, his body and blood given in the new and eternal covenant for the forgiveness of sins and the transformation of the world. Ireland has been shaped by the Mass at the deepest level for centuries, and by its power and grace generations of monks, martyrs and missionaries have heroically lived the faith at home and spread the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness well beyond your shores. You are the heirs to a Church that has been a mighty force for good in the world, and which has given a profound and enduring love of Christ and his blessed Mother to many, many others. Your forebears in the Church in Ireland knew how to strive for holiness and constancy in their personal lives, how to preach the joy that comes from the Gospel, how to promote the importance of belonging to the universal Church in communion with the See of Peter, and how to pass on a love of the faith and Christian virtue to other generations. Our Catholic faith, imbued with a radical sense of God’s presence, caught up in the beauty of his creation all around us, and purified through personal penance and awareness of God’s forgiveness, is a legacy that is surely perfected and nourished when regularly placed on the Lord’s altar at the sacrifice of the Mass. Thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care. Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to his goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church’s message. How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the sacrament of Penance have offended in this way? It remains a mystery. Yet evidently, their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit. The work of the Council was really meant to overcome this form of Christianity and to rediscover the faith as a deep personal friendship with the goodness of Jesus Christ. The Eucharistic Congress has a similar aim. Here we wish to encounter the Risen Lord. We ask him to touch us deeply. May he who breathed on the Apostles at Easter, communicating his Spirit to them, likewise bestow upon us his breath, the power of the Holy Spirit, and so help us to become true witnesses to his love, witnesses to the truth. His truth is love. Christ’s love is truth.

My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that the Congress will be for each of you a spiritually fruitful experience of communion with Christ and his Church. At the same time, I would like to invite you to join me in praying for God’s blessing upon the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2016 in the city of Cebu! To the people of the Philippines I send warm greetings and an assurance of my closeness in prayer during the period of preparation for this great ecclesial gathering. I am confident that it will bring lasting spiritual renewal not only to them but to all the participants from across the globe. In the meantime, I commend everyone taking part in the present Congress to the loving protection of Mary, Mother of God, and to Saint Patrick, the great patron of Ireland; and, as a token of joy and peace in the Lord, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing.

Cardinal Seán Brady says failure of Church to address issue of child abuse is a 'deep shame'

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0614/iec-2012-congress.html

Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh Cardinal Seán Brady has apologised for the failure of the Church to respond adequately to the victims of clerical child sexual abuse.

In his homily, Cardinal Brady said the Church's failure to listen to the victims of clerical child abuse is a matter of deep shame.
At mass in the RDS during the International Eucharistic Congress, Dr Brady said he wanted to apologise for "the times when some of us were blind to your fear, deaf to your cries and silent in response to your pain".
He said the victims were "little ones who were frightened, alone and in pain because someone was abusing them".
Dr Brady described the healing stone, which was placed in the arena on Sunday, as a reminder of "those children and young people who were hurt by a Church that first betrayed their trust and then failed to adequately respond to their pain".
He said what the stone represents is a stark warning that there can be no passing by on the other side and "no room for half-heartedness in our care for the vulnerable and the young".
Dr Brady prayed that one day the stone, which is inscribed with a survivor's prayer, might become a symbol of conversion, healing and hope and of a Church that has learned from the mistakes of the past.
He said the Church lamented the burdens of the painful memories carried by the survivors of abuse and prayed for healing and peace for those whose suffering continues.
Meanwhile, an organisation representing survivors of child abuse in the Catholic Church has criticised the organisers of the International Eucharist Congress for failing to consult victims' representative bodies before deciding to exclude them from the global event in Dublin.
Michael O'Brien of the Right to Peace organisation criticised the Secretary General of the Congress, Fr Kevin Doran, for saying survivors' groups were not invited to the gathering on the advice of people caring for victims and of some individual survivors.
Earlier today Fr Doran told journalists at the RDS there was a concern that bringing in groups would be seen as part of a public relations process.
He decided instead that any survivor who emailed him was provided with a pass to the Congress.
But Mr O'Brien told RTÉ News the Congress organisers should have contacted the representative organisations to ensure that all survivors got to know about the gathering.
He said those who wanted to go would have done so respectfully.

Irish fans singing The Fields of Athenry vs Spain Euro 2012

Vatican confirms SSPX is being offered Personal Prelature

Vatican City, Jun 14, 2012 (CNA/EWTN News).

The Vatican has confirmed that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X is being offered the status of a personal prelature as part of a deal to heal the group’s 24-year rift with the Catholic Church.
“Clearly the ball is now in the court of the Society,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said on June 14.
Yesterday afternoon the Society’s superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, spent over two hours in talks with representatives of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Prefect Cardinal William J. Levada.
A June 14 communique from the Vatican Press Office confirmed that during those discussions “a draft document was submitted proposing a Personal Prelature as the most appropriate instrument for any future canonical recognition of the Society.”
A personal prelature is a Church jurisdiction without geographical boundaries designed to carry out particular pastoral initiatives. At present, the only personal prelature in the Church is Opus Dei.

The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by Frenchman Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in response to errors he believed had crept into the Church following the Second Vatican Council.
The Society has had a strained relationship with the Church since Archbishop Lefebvre ordained four bishops against the will of Pope John Paul II in 1988.
The Vatican communique explained that the primary purpose of yesterday’s meeting was “to present the Holy See’s evaluation of the text submitted in April by the Society of St. Pius X in response to the Doctrinal Preamble which the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith had presented to the Society on 14 September 2011.”
Although it has not been published publicly, the doctrinal preamble sets out key elements of Catholic teaching which the Society will have to agree with before re-uniting with the Church. That list almost certainly includes the documents of the Second Vatican Council 1962-65.
The response given to the preamble by Bishop Fellay in April contained some amendments to the Vatican’s original text. In the intervening weeks Vatican officials have been formulating their decision. This process has included personal input from Pope Benedict XVI.
The June 14 communique said that yesterday’s discussions also allowed the Vatican an opportunity to provide “explanations and clarifications” for its decision.

For his part, Bishop Fellay “illustrated the current situation of the Society of St. Pius X” and promised to give a response “within a reasonable lapse of time,” the statement said.
In a separate June 14 statement, the Society said that Bishop Fellay "spelled out the doctrinal difficulties posed by the Second Vatican Council and the Novus Ordo Missae."
"The desire for additional clarifications could result in a new phase of discussions," the Society said.

If an agreement is reached, it seems unlikely that all of the Society would follow Bishop Fellay back into the Catholic Church.
Last month the other three Society bishops issued a letter warning that any deal with the Vatican would mean the Society would “cease to oppose the universal apostasy of our time.” They also dismissed Pope Benedict as a “subjectivist.”
Vatican negotiations with each of the Society’s bishops are now being handled “separately and singularly,” the communique said.
It concluded by expressing the hope that “this additional opportunity for reflection” would help bring about “full communion between the Society of St. Pius X and the Apostolic See.”
Updated June 14, 2012 at 12:01 p.m. MDT. Adds specific objections from Society in paragraphs 13 and 14.

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

50th International Eucharistic Congress opens in Dublin

See:  http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0610/2012-eucharistic-congress-to-open-this-afternoon.html

For IEC 2012 News and Coverage

See: http://www.rte.ie/news/congress2012/

Vatican II did not downplay eucharistic adoration, pope says

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- A misunderstanding of the Second Vatican Council has led some Catholics to think that eucharistic adoration and Corpus Christi processions are pietistic practices that pale in importance to the celebration of Mass, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"A unilateral interpretation of the Second Vatican Council has penalized this dimension" of Catholic faith, which is to recognize Jesus truly present in the Eucharist and worthy of adoration, the pope said June 7 during a Mass marking the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

The evening Mass outside Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran preceded a moment of silent adoration and the pope's traditional Corpus Christi procession with the Eucharist through the streets of Rome.

In his homily, the pope told the thousands of people gathered on the basilica lawn that it is important to recognize the centrality of the celebration of Mass, the moment in which the Lord gathers his people, nourishes them and unites them to himself in offering his sacrifice.

But if Christ is seen as present in the Eucharist only during Mass, "this imbalance has repercussions on the spiritual life of the faithful," who need to be aware of "the constant presence of Jesus among us and with us," the pope said.

"The sacrament of the charity of Christ must permeate all one's daily life," he said.

Celebration and adoration are not in competition, the pope said. "Worshipping the Blessed Sacrament constitutes something like the spiritual environment in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth."

Pope Benedict said Mass is most meaningful when the faithful recognize that in the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord is present, "awaits us, invites us to his table and then, after the assembly disperses, remains with us with his discrete and silent presence."

Spending time in prolonged silence before the Eucharist "is one of the most authentic experiences of our being church," and it finds its complement at Mass when Catholics "celebrate the Eucharist, listening to the word of God, singing, approaching together the table of the bread of life."

Truly entering into communion with someone, he said, is accompanied by "exchanging glances and intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration."

"If this dimension is missing, even sacramental communion can become a superficial gesture on our part," the pope said.

Pope Benedict said another misunderstanding -- one influenced "by a certain secular mentality" of the 1960s and '70s -- was the idea that the Bible teaches that with the coming of Christ, rituals and sacrifices no longer should have meaning; basically, he said, some people believe "the sacred no longer exists."

It is true that Christ inaugurated a new form of worship, one tied less to a place and a ritual and more to his person, but people still need "signs and rites," the pope said. In fact, without its annual Corpus Christi procession, "the spiritual profile of Rome" would change.

Preceded by members of parish eucharistic associations, children who recently made their first Communions, religious, seminarians, priests, bishops and cardinals walking to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, Pope Benedict rode on the back of a truck facing the Blessed Sacrament, which was held in a gem-studded gold monstrance.

Thousands of people carrying candles walked behind the pope. People watching from the sidewalks behind metal barriers tossed flower petals in front of the truck and joined in singing eucharistic hymns and reciting litanies.

Darkness fell as the procession made its way to St. Mary Major, and the evening ended with the pope blessing the crowd with the Blessed Sacrament.

Catholic Ireland: 1932 versus 2012

From http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0602/1224317105928.html

 
How many Catholics?
2011 84.2% Proportion of the population – or 3,861,300 people – who said they were Catholic in the 2011 census

1930s 93.5% Proportion of the population – or 2,773,920 people – who said they were Catholic in the 1936 census

1920s 92.6% Proportion of the population – or 2,751,269 people – who said they were Catholic in the 1926 census

LOUGH DERG: 1952 was the most successful year, with 34,645 pilgrims. A one-day retreat that Lough Derg introduced in 1992 may account for some of the reduction in numbers. About 4,000 people went that year. After reaching 12,645 in 2000, numbers have dropped; last year 8,321 people went on the one-day retreat
Numbers going on the island’s three-day pilgrimage
1932 12,316
1960 25,878
1990 25,390
2011 8,311
KNOCK SHRINE The advent of the car saw a big increase in visitors to the Marian shrine in Co Mayo. Judging by inquiries, the shrine expects an increase in group visitor numbers of up to 3,000 in the week before and the week after this month’s Eucharistic congress. Individual visitors will further boost these figures
1930s 250,000-300,000 a year
2011 1.6 million
Sex before marriage: Always wrong?
1970s 71% Percentage of respondents who said yes in 1973-74
2000s 6% Percentage of respondents who said yes in 2004-05
Ireland in churches
1930s 2,473 Number of Catholic churches in Ireland’s 26 dioceses (covering 32 counties) in 1932
1960s 2,534 Number of Catholic churches in Ireland’s 26 dioceses in 1964
2010s 2657 Number of Catholic churches in Ireland’s 26 dioceses in 2011

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Sources: Central Statistics Office; Irish Catholic Directory; Department of Education; Families in Ireland