Report: Catholic University's liturgical abuse prompts vandalism, possible hate-crime charges

The University of Detroit Mercy is "a Catholic university in the Jesuit and Mercy traditions."

This is educational institutional code for "Catholic-but-dont-hold-that-against-us-we-really-dont-believe-this-silly-stuff."

In response, one zealous student made a stupid attempt to thwart a case of inevitable (grave) liturgical abuse, and may get charged with a hate crime as a result:

A UDM student reportedly stole four medallions depicting various world religions in an attempt to deny their recognition in the Sept. 24 Celebrate Spirit service, the university's opening {Mass}.

The student, who has not been publicly identified, entered Gesu Church between 7 and 9 a.m., according to the UDM Department of Public Safety.

The suspect stole the medallions representing Islam, Confucianism, Buddhism and Hinduism and disposed of them, officials said.

The medallions have not been recovered. The medallions representing Christianity and Judaism were still in place. (Source - The Varsity News)

The UDM website helpfully explains this "Procession of Medallions of Major World Religions":

* the Star of David (Judaism),
* the cross (Christianity),
* and the Star and Crescent (Islam) represent the three sister-communities who trace the origins of their faith to Abraham.
* The Yin-yang symbol (Confucianism),
* the Dharma Wheel (Buddhism),
* and the Om (Hinduism) represent the great religions of the East.

All faiths recognize the reality of the transcendent and attempt to engage believers with Ultimate Reality. The medallions are a sign of welcome to every expression of Spirit in this celebration as we move together through this coming academic year.

(The UDM website also explains what the "Liturgy of the Eucharist" is, for those of us who need sensitivity training:

The word "eucharist" comes from the Greek word for "thanksgiving." The gathered community first brings forward bread, the staff of life, and wine, a festive drink. We place these symbols of our life and joy into the hands of the priest, a chosen representative of this community and of the larger Church. He calls down the power of the Holy Spirit over the gifts, recalling the story of Jesus' own gift to us and asking that God transform them. Then with Jesus and the community he gives thanks to God. Our great "Amen" at the end is the sign of our acceptance of all that we have said and done together.)

And yes, for attempting to interfere with these great "signs of welcome" and "signs of our acceptance", the student may very well be charged with a hate crime. Too bad this young student isn't eligible for welcoming or acceptance, apparently.
Oh well, I guess he missed his chance.

The local Jesuit campus minister helpfully provides tus with the moral of the story:

"It's a sad thing that happened, and it illustrates how one person's inability to accept others can affect a whole community," said the Rev. Gary Wright, S.J., of Campus Ministry.

That's funny, becuase now I'm confused ... I thought the 2009 theme of the Celebrate Spirit! 2009 opening liturgy was what is written on the UDM website:

"As a result of this year's Celebrate Spirit, we hope that the UDM community will be more aware of the gift of creation, more moved to praise and thank God for it, and more empowered to take action to care for it. In the light of current social awareness and scientific understanding, we hope that all who participate will see environmental concern as more than a political position, more than a practical survival strategy. Rather it is a deep and necessary response flowing from our faith traditions, spiritualities, and ethical principles."

I guess environmentalism also has a vital role to play in UDM's "Catholic Mass."

Which is UDM code for "Interfaith-ecumenical-faith-healing-celebration-event-community-growing-environmentally-sustainable-equality-promoting-difference-negating-positive-thinking-hey-whatever-just-show-up-please-and-bring-a-side-dish-or-something-gathering."

Video: Disco Mass

From Damian Thompson - a little over a minute of pure unadulterated horror:

See why we need the GIRM?

Video: Dog participates in liturgy at Sunday Mass

A concerned papist writes:

"The video [shows] one of many liturgical abuses during Sunday Mass, which also included a plug before Mass for Father's favorite dog shampoo (As he set the bottle of shampoo on the altar while continuing to talk about it and then made some in the congregation smell it)."

Here is the video:

The Parish is the Church of the Resurrection (Destin, Florida) in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. The priest can be e-mailed at pastor@rcc-destin.org. Please be charitable if you choose to contact him.

I think it is legitimate to document cases of liturgical abuse and bring them to the attention of the wider Catholic community, so that prompt action can be taken by the local bishop. Scandal has already been done to those who directly witnessed the event, and by making the abuse public, there is a better chance that action will be quickly taken to address the situation internally.

Liturgical No-No: Puppets in Mass

From last week's parish bulletin at St. Agatha's in Milton, MA:

They are quite serious about puppets at St. Agatha's. They have a "Puppet Ministry History" page on their website and a chance to "meet the cast" (my favorite is Clyde, a "Male camel who thinks he is self-important and superior to the other animals" - like all males, I guess).

The organizers say they are only performing at the 9AM Mass because they "feel it is the best place to begin." Actually, Mass is the worst place to begin. Puppets have no place in the divine liturgy.

They say they are going to "pray, and let God lead us where He wants us to go."

I think he wants you to get out of Mass. That's a good place to begin.

Liturgy: S. Africa protest over new Catholic Mass translation

There is a new translation of the Mass into English that will debut soon. From the large portions I've read, it is excellent: better and more faithful to the authoritative Latin text than our current translation.

Dissidents of the Church do not like it. To them, it represents "turning back the clock on Vatican II", or similar nonsense. In fact, it has been the intention of the Church since the Council that any translation into the vernacular should be faithful to the original Latin.

This Associated Press article is a preview of the resistance we can expect to the new translation:

A new translation of the Roman Catholic Mass that is to be introduced worldwide in a few years is getting an accidental trial run in South Africa, where some parishioners are complaining it's too hard to understand.

The controversy comes as Pope Benedict XVI travels Tuesday to Cameroon on his first papal pilgrimage to the continent that has the fastest growing congregation of Catholics.

Critics say the new, more literal word-for-word translation is part of an attempt to roll back the progress made decades ago when the church halted its insistence on Latin.

Before Communion, for example, the prayer "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you" becomes "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof." "One in being with the Father" becomes "consubstantial with the Father" in the Nicene creed.

And the congregation's response to the greeting that opens Mass with the priest saying "The Lord be with you," changes from "And also with you" to "And with your spirit."

In a misunderstanding, some South African church leaders started using the new version prematurely in some parishes, even though the English-language prayers won't be approved for global use for at least a couple of years. But instead of pulling back in the face of their mistake, they are continuing to use the liturgy.

Distribution of the prayers has fueled debate over whether the new translation — meant to more closely follow the original Latin text — will help deepen parishioners' prayer life or alienate them from the church.

"I think the church has been very lucky that the South Africans jumped the gun because it's showing the Vatican that there is going to be a worldwide problem when these new translations are put into effect," said Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University.

"Once again the Vatican isn't listening to the critics, and we're going to have another major embarrassment to the pope when these translations are put into effect and are forced on the people in the pews," he said.

For the record - every one of those changes is for the good. People should not have such a short memory when it comes to these things, just because the new translation takes a little getting used to should not mean we should never, as a universal Church, return to the beauty of the traditional prayer of the Church, which is older than a generation.

Resist dissenters like Fr. Reese - reclaim the beauty that is ours as sons and daughters of the Church!

update: Fr. Z agrees.

[Photo Credit: The Catholic Sun]

Photos: Priest uses *Super Soaker* to bless at Mass

This is one of those "I wish it was a joke but it's legit" posts....

A priest blessed and used a super soaker during Mass at a Newman Center Mass on Sunday:

Not suprisingly, this liturgical abuse originates from the diocese of Rochester, a place well-known for its lack of episcopal oversight when it comes to these matters. The online bio of the priest:

A priest of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Richard is a native of Syracuse , New York , and resides in the Jesuit community at McQuaid Jesuit High School. His interests include Western and Eastern spirituality, meditation, prayer, liturgy, pastoral counseling and retreats. His academic degrees in political science and deep pastoral commitment to enhancing student life at RIT are fully expressed in issues of social justice and peace issues. A trained musician and artist, Fr. Richard enjoys preaching, teaching, and writing as well as working out, watching movies, and spending time in cyberspace.

*shakes head.*

Ph/t: Curt Jester.

Rumors: New Prefect of CDW arrived in Rome

The New Liturgical Movement and Fr. Z are keeping tabs. I'll sure miss Cardinal Arinze!

Video: Austrian Cardinal participates in grave liturgical abuse

Your Eminence, Cardinal Schonborn, I love and admire your previous good work for the Church.

... but what are you doing?!



This video depicts grave liturgical abuses. Someone who wrote the Catechism of the Catholic Church should know better. I know things are bad for the Church in Austria - but this is not the solution to the problem of young people straying. The Cardinal looks hardly happy about the whole situation, but he remains complicit in it.

As a personal contribution, I studied in Austria for several months. I've participated in Masses across Austria. They're not all this bad! There are people in Austria who love the Mass reverently celebrated. The Church can be a magnificent sign of contradiction to the pervading secularism of Austria - but only if it remains a contradiction.

This saddens me.

update: I'm seeing precious little reaction in the Catholic blogosphere to this video, AmP and Fr. Z's excepted. The video was recorded last Sunday in Wolfsthal (lower Austria). More details in the combox below.

Ph/t: Fr. Z.

update 2: Fr. Z received a statement from the spokesperson for Cardinal Schonborn which he posted.

Several people have contacted me asking me to clarify what I mean in my post title by "grave liturgical abuse."

The statement which Fr. Z has posted answers my primary concern, e.g., that the matter used in the consecration was invalid. It does not rule out, of course, the fact that the large "chunks" of Eucharistic matter provide an all-too-easy opportunity for crumbs to fall, be trample upon, etc.

The statement, however, also fails to answer the other ways in which I would consider this Mass to contain some grave liturgical abuses, such as....

• tie-dye vestments (which liturgically proper color is that?!)
• rock instruments, including heavy metal for the consecration response
• the injection of non-liturgical elements, such as the balloon-release
• violation of the sanctuary space by persons not ministering (you can barely tell where the sanctuary ends and the "church" begins)
• an extensive, and intrusive light show, complete with strobe lights and lasers (what is this, pink floyd?)

And those are just the ones that first come to mind, I could go on.

Back in February, Pope Benedict asked if outdoor Masses are "what the Lord wanted", and simultaneously took steps to reform them. I can say with a confidence gained from studying liturgy at some length, that the sort of Mass depicted above is not "what the Lord wanted." These sort of liturgical innovations have cropped up often in the past 40 years, but they take on a gravitas they do not deserve when Cardinals themselves participate and condone them.

At any rate, when you put together all the inappropriate elements represented here, the end result is a thoroughgoing violation of the sanctity of the liturgy, and that, to my mind, is a grave liturgical abuse. Maybe not technically, but if this celebration shows us anything, it's that one can complete violate the spirit of the Mass while arguably remaining inside the loosest interpretation of the liturgical rubrics.

Pictures: Womanpriest in action

The Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House in Washington DC recently hosted the "First Mass of Roman Catholic Womanpriest Janice Sevre-Duszynksa." I reported on it the day it happened.

Since then Call-to-Action associated, and self-proclaimed woman priest Bridged Mary has blogged about it.

Janice's storytime - oops, I mean "homily" - consisted of her reading an excerpt from her 1980 musical "Altar Girls" (which, wouldn't you know it, was never staged). The plot could not better fit my expectations:

"Set in 1962 during Vatican II, it is about a young girl, Bibbianna, who wants to become an altar girl. Every Saturday morning when she cleans the sanctuary and priests'sacristy with Sister Joan, she tells her about her desire to become an altar girl. As time goes by, Sister Joan decides to take on Bibbi's quest as a lark at first. Later, however, her consciousness rises and not only does she support Bibbi, but she is able to name sexism in the church. In doing so she finds herself in trouble."

It's so sad, really. Sad even beyond caricature, or trying to reason with individuals in such a state of mind. The great number of grey and white hairs present in this gathering reveal that such things are already on their way out without any assistance from us.

But the greatest danger I could see happening is that such people get away with convincing others that they have discovered truths (about the dignity of women, to name one) which are not already contained in the Catholic Church, or which somehow undermine her witness.

And yet such truths are contained in the teachings of Christ and passed onto his Church. So while prayer may be are only recourse we have for Bridged Mary and Janice Sevre-Duszynksa, they should raise our awareness of the misunderstandings that can drive other people from communion with the Church. Frankly, I think seeing the alternative can be one good deterrent.

Finally, what we must not do is condone these activities and retreat from the truth. There's a certain "Rev. Joe Irvin" mentioned in this post. There's a technical term for his involvement with women priests - "enabling."

On clapping in Church, and whether one should (ever)

Fr. Z comments on an article in Catholic Exchange titled, "Hold the Applause: Confessions of a Conflicted Clapper", which begins with this arresting statement:

"Whenever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment."

Now guess who said that? Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Arinze, head of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is also quoted:

"…when we come to Mass we don’t come to clap. We don’t come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.”

Now, my question: does proper liturgical praxis involve never clapping during Mass (ever)?

On leaving Mass right after Communion

Fr. McNamara tackles the question in a Zenit Q&A:

Q: Unfortunately some in the parish have developed the poor habit of leaving Mass immediately after Communion. I estimate around 30%, or approximately 225 people, leave early. Our church holds 750, so the disappearance is definitely noticeable. Could you provide a theological discourse on why this is not appropriate behavior? -- D.S., Port Charlotte, Florida

A: This is a perennial problem, but one which must be faced with patience, insisting, as St. Paul would say, "Opportune et inopportune" (in season and out of season), until the message reaches home. [Read the entire answer.]

His answer, briefly: leaving Mass early robs you of the opportunity for silent reflection and prayer after receiving communion; it's simply discourteous; we ought to participate in the thanksgiving of the community post-communion; we ought not to leave until we are dismissed (sent forth) by the celebrant.

And let's not neglect the practical:

"From a very material standpoint one could also see if there is some tangible motivation that leads so many of the faithful to leave early. Is there a bottleneck in the parking lot? Are Mass schedules too close together? If there are real practical inconveniences involved, then theology alone will be ineffective in changing people's habits until these are resolved."

This all appears airtight to me. Sadly, in my parish I see people leave directly after communion often. It strikes me as very selfish to deny the community (and the Eucharistic presence of Jesus) your attention once you've "received what you came for."

Is it horrid of me to suggest some sort of (mild) public shaming for this sort of juvenile activity?

What not to attend: '08 NY Catechetical Convention

Thanks for warning us, Diogenes.

*Shudder*

YouTube Video: Call to Action Liturgy

Or as Damien Thompson calls it, "How to scare the kids at Mass."



I blogged about this earlier here. It's still just as scary now, though.

Video: Call to Action's Closing Liturgy

Amy gives us the video (windows media player) from West Coast Call to Action's closing liturgy.

There's a good discussion at Amy's attempting to get deeper than the knee-jerk reactions to such fare.

If it wasn't a liturgical abuse of the Mass, I'd have found it a diversion from tonight's studying marathon.

Video: Religious Education Congress Closing Liturgy 2008

I blogged at-length about this topic here:

The AmP postmortem on "Mahoneyfest '08"

As of today, we have videos of the complete concluding liturgy, in four parts....

Part One (liturgical/ethnic song/dance and mahony's entrance):

Part Two (beginning with gospel reading and incense bowl):

Part Three (beginning with liturgical dance and altar prep):

Part Four (concludes with liturgical dance, communion, etc):

ph/t: reader "Susan".

CDF officially ends dispute on "baptisms" by "Creator, Liberator, Sustainer", etc.

Today the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith answered two recent disputed questions regarding allowable baptismal formulas and what to do with persons "baptized" using them:

Made public today were the responses of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to two questions concerning the validity of Baptism conferred with certain non-standard formulae.

The first question is: "Is a Baptism valid if conferred with the words 'I baptise you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier', or 'I baptise you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer'"?

The second question is: "Must people baptised with those formulae be baptised 'in forma absoluta'?"

The responses are: "To the first question, negative; to the second question, affirmative".

In other words: "no", baptism may not be validly celebrated using the above-mentioned substitutions for the traditional "Father, Son & Holy Spirit" phrasing, and "yes", people baptized with this substitute phrasing must be baptized absolutely, as opposed to conditionally (conditionally would imply that their previous baptism might have been valid. The CDF says they are absolutely not valid).

Pope Benedict personally approved these answers. Cardinal Levada, who is in charge of CDF, and Archbishop Amato, the no. 2 in charge of CDF, explain the decision (underlining mine):

An attached note explains that the responses "concern the validity of Baptism conferred with two English-language formulae within the ambit of the Catholic Church. ... Clearly, the question does not concern English but the formula itself, which could also be expressed in another language".

"Baptism conferred in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit", the note continues, "obeys Jesus' command as it appears at the end of the Gospel of St. Matthew. ... The baptismal formula must be an adequate expression of Trinitarian faith, approximate formulae are unacceptable.

"Variations to the baptismal formula - using non-biblical designations of the Divine Persons - as considered in this reply, arise from so-called feminist theology", being an attempt "to avoid using the words Father and Son which are held to be chauvinistic, substituting them with other names. Such variants, however, undermine faith in the Trinity".

I'm glad the response makes clear that this false practice came about because of "so-called feminist theology" (theology is theology, there is no such thing as "feminist" or "masculine" theology).

And if you had any doubt about the theological weight this opinion holds, consider:

"The response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith constitutes an authentic doctrinal declaration, which has wide-ranging canonical and pastoral effects. Indeed, the reply implicitly affirms that people who have been baptised, or who will in the future be baptised, with the formulae in question have, in reality, not been baptised. Hence, they must them be treated for all canonical and pastoral purposes with the same juridical criteria as people whom the Code of Canon Law places in the general category of 'non-baptised'".

That's pretty airtight, but won't prevent the obligatory outraged editorial responses.

Trust me, they're coming.

{updated} To review, CNS confirms that people who have been "baptized" without the proper Trinitarian form of the Sacrament must now be "re-baptized" and confirmed. They must be "re-baptized" before they can be re-admitted to recieving the Eucharist. Furthermore, they must, if married, now receive that Sacrament of Matrimony. If any of them men baptized with this invalid formula were ordained to Holy Orders, they must now be actually ordained.

In short, it's a huge mess.

Plus, people who continue invalidly baptizing with these invalid formulas incur certain penalties. Protestants, to make another point, who have been baptized with one of these invalid formulas, cannot be presumed to share in Christian baptism with Catholics. It's quite a can of worms.

Finally, some folks have mentioned the idea of "ecclesia supplet" as providing a solution to the dilemma posed when people operate and live with the belief that they have received Sacraments, which, in reality, they have not undergone.

That isn't quite correct, but don't lose hope: the proper Catholic theological response in this situation is that "Deus providet" - God provides. Canonist Ed Peters explains how/why in this post (jump down to the section heading 'So where does that leave our penitent?').

He also explains the background to this particular debate, and makes some helpful comments today:

"The rules on baptism are meant to be followed"

You might recall when I blogged against using baptismal formulae contrived to avoid masculine nouns for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I said back in 2004 that such ‘baptisms’ were invalid, and that people who received ‘baptism’ under them were not even Christian, let alone Catholic.

Looks like CDF agrees.

This type of invalid "baptism" was most notably practiced in Australia over the past decade:

• CathNews: Brisbane Archbishop stops "inclusive" baptism
• Catholic New Times: Cardinal Pell backs stand against 'invalid' baptisms
• ABC News: Brisbane church on notice over unconventional baptisms

And for a glimpse into the mindset that prompted this liturgical abuse, consider these lines from the "Australian Reforming Catholics" website (with emphasis on the "reforming"):

"If the words "Creator, Liberator and Sustainer" enable some people to come closer to the meaning of the Trinity, then why should there be such a problem if people have a choice about the way it is expressed? Our understanding is that not all people are baptised at the South Brisbane Church with these words and if some are assisted in faith through their usage, then there should be concentration on what is most important."

The proper way to approach the meaning of the Trinity is catachesis. The proper way to approach the reality of the Trinity, and of eternal life, is to call upon the Trinity by their revealed names in the sacrament of baptism. This is what is most important: that faith be founded on reality as well as feeling.

After all, feelings don't save - but God does.

Looks like CDF agrees.

[photo: Flickr user "praiseyah"]

Pope asks if outdoor Masses what "the Lord wanted", takes steps to reform

A fascinating topic broached by Damian Thompson, citing material presented by Fr. Z here.

Thompson first, quoted at length because there is little fluff about it:

Pope Benedict XVI has serious reservations about presiding over the huge open-air Masses pioneered by his charismatic predecessor John Paul II, it emerged this week.

He has no choice but to take part in them during his forthcoming trips to America and Australia – but he has told the priests of the diocese of Rome that these liturgies are “a big problem” that has yet to be resolved.

Benedict is so worried by the prospect of hundreds of priests distributing Holy Communion in the middle of crowds of over-excited pilgrims that he is sending his new Master of Ceremonies, Mgr Guido Marini, to America and Australia to check in advance that the dignity of the Mass will not be compromised.

“If a thousand priests are concelebrating, we don’t know that this is the structure the Lord would have wanted,” Benedict told his priests and deacons during a private question-and-answer session. That’s a pretty forthright way of putting it: the implication is that the vast Eucharistic jamborees favoured by former papal MC Archbishop Piero Marini, who was sacked to make way for his traditionalist namesake, may have been contrary to Christ’s wishes.

Some frank comments about ex-master of papal ceremonies Marini conclude his treatment:

Incidentally, I gather that the archbishop is trying to distance himself from his book on Vatican II whose US tour was mysteriously cancelled after it was widely interpreted as sticking two fingers up to the current papacy.

Marini is now apparently telling people that the book was largely the work of his editors. How very, very embarrassing for any prelate silly enough to have hosted a lavish launch for the volume in his throne room.

Now head over to Fr. Z who has the documentation and expert commentary about what the Pope said.

My quick observations:

• Outdoor Masses stem from the desire of large numbers of people to worship with the Pope
• Pope Benedict is concerned about a) the scandal of treating the Mass as a spectacle and b) the difficulties associated with maintaining the sanctity of the liturgy and c) the challenges which accompany, for instance, distributing communion in these contexts and d) unwiedly numbers concelebrants
• In response to these problems "the Pope decided not to delegate any longer the organization of celebrations to third parties." To that end, he will be sending the new master of papal ceremonies, Msgr. Guido Marini, to both the U.S. and Australia for the purpose of taking on "direct responsibility for carrying out celebrations in those spaces." Note: the pope wishes to reform these liturgies, not cancel them.

One should not take from the Pope's comments a criticism of those who desire to attend large outdoor papal liturgies. Rather, in keeping with the Pope's trustworthy observations, those attending these liturgies in future should do their very best to address in whatever ways they can the issues that the Pope mentions. I'm very happy to see this sort of thing being said and to find out that something concrete is being done about it.

We are blessed to have Pope Benedict as our wise shepherd.

Abp. O'Brien removes priest for grave liturgical and disciplinary abuses

Update: The Baltimore Sun has posted an update to their original story here which provides more details about the nature of Father Ray Martin's abuses and (not-surprisingly) plenty of one-sided reactions.

An exclusive to the Baltimore Sun (underlining mine):

Baltimore's new Roman Catholic archbishop removed a priest who was pastor of three South Baltimore parishes for offenses that include officiating at a funeral Mass with an Episcopal priest, which violates canon law.

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien personally ordered the Rev. Ray Martin, who has led the Catholic Community of South Baltimore for five years, to resign from the three churches and sign a statement yesterday apologizing for "bringing scandal to the church."

Martin led the funeral Mass on Oct. 15 for Locust Point activist Ann Shirley Doda at Our Lady of Good Counsel with several clergy, including the Rev. Annette Chappell, the pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Redemption in Locust Point, Martin said.

{snip}

Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said this was one example of repeated administrative and liturgical offenses Martin had committed in more than a year."

Father Martin's received advice and counsel on numerous occasions from the archdiocese, and he has repeatedly violated church teaching," Caine said. His major offense was not complying with hiring and screening policies, but he also allowed dogs in the sanctuary and did not show up for a baptism, Caine said.

The penalized Rev. Martin gives us his take on Canon Law and "extremism":

"I think that canon laws exist to protect the church from extremism. I don't find that this is such an extreme situation," Martin said.

Martin, who has not been defrocked, said he has been barred from celebrating Mass publicly. He will go on an extended retreat and counseling at a monastery in Latrobe, Pa., he said.

Liz F. Kay and Kelly Brewington, the Sun reports who wrote the piece, focus all of their "human interest" attention on those who opposed Abp. O'Brien's decision. This opposition ranges from the tearful and outraged to the laughably-ignorant ("What, are we in the Dark Ages again? This is absolutely ridiculous.") Of course, not a single person who supports the Archbishop's decision or wrote letters to complain about Rev. Martin's abuses is given a chance to speak in the article.

Lessons learned?

• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of sexual abuse), he's routinely criticized for not acting with more forcefulness
• When a bishop takes action against a priest in accord with Canon Law (say, in cases of liturgical abuse), he's guilty of extremely overextending the ministry of his office.

We are sure to hear in the upcoming days and weeks a great deal of complaining from certain sectors that Archbishop O'Brien has acted vindictively and oppressively. But I would submit that what these people actually dislike is not that Archbishop O'Brien has invoked Canon Law, but that he has invoked it primarily to discipline a wayward priest in liturgical and disciplinary matters (Martin, it strikes me, has been treated more than fairly).

O'Brien has been installed as the head of the Baltimore archdiocese for all of six weeks, CWNews informs us.

Ph/t to the reader who notified me.

I made it into CNS!

Gee, maybe I should start wearing a nametag.

Last week I attended Cardinal Danneels lecture at Catholic University of America and posted a lengthy summary of it (with a little commentary).

Today, Catholic News Service published its report of the talk, and singled out my question from the other ones that were asked during the Q&A:

In a brief question-answer session after his talk, the cardinal was asked to comment on Pope Benedict XVI's recent decision to permit wider use of the of the Tridentine Mass in Latin. In his decree, the pope said the Tridentine Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Roman Missal should be made available in every parish where groups of the faithful desire it. He also said the Mass from the Roman Missal in use since 1970 remains the ordinary form of the Mass, while celebration of the Tridentine Mass is the extraordinary form.

Cardinal Danneels said he thought the pope did so in the hope that giving wider access to the pre-Vatican II version would draw some Catholics attached to that rite, especially the followers of the schismatic late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, back into the church.

He said he has no objections to permission for wider use of the rite -- although "in Belgium it was superfluous; people are not asking for it" -- as long as those seeking it accept other teachings of Vatican II, such as those on religious freedom.

I guess I would probably come off as flippant if I were to note that it doesn't seem to me that people in Belgium are asking for any sort of liturgy, let alone the Tridentine. Mass attendance in Belgium is well under 5% after all, and most of those are elderly folks, as Oliver from Belgium informs us.

Video: Tribal dance *after* Mass with Bp. Barnes of San Bernardino

Great Odin's Raven! Is there no sanity in the California episcopate? (besides Robert Vasa in Baker). [ed.: This is why I shouldn't blog late at night, I meant to say Bp. Allen Vigneron of Oakland (V-asa/V-igneron - that's the only explanation I can come up with). As noted in the comments, Robert Vasa serves the diocese of Baker, Oregon.]

Native dance after Mass with Bp. Gerald Barnes of San Bernardino:
Update: The video is still viewable here, just no longer embedded.

I'm calling this "Catholics with Cameras". And I'm taking submissions:

"thomas [at] americanpapist [dot] com."

Ph/t: AMDG, RCB & CCC.

... and then everything crazy converged into "eco-confessions"

Meet Dom Anthony Sutch (far right), a Benedictine monk, who will be attending a Greenpeace festival in the UK this weekend "to hear eco-confessions in what is thought to be the first dedicated confessional booth of its kind."

Yes, you read correctly: "eco-confessions". The UK Times reports:

Vested in a green chasuble-style garment made from recycled curtains, and in a booth constructed of recycled doors, he will hear the sins of of those who have not recycled the things they ought to have done and who have consumed the things they ought not to have done.

... He told The Times: “It is not, I hope, blasphemous to do this. I do not think it is. It is just an attempt to make people conscious of the way they live. The Church is aware of green issues and of how aware we have to be of how we treat the environment.

... “I’ve had one or two comments about abuse of the confessional. One or two people have said, ‘Father, is this quite right?’ Luckily, more people see it as an excellent idea. As with all these things, we have to look in the mirror and see what we could stop consuming ourselves.”

My questions: is he actually trying to administer sacramental confession to folks who have not turned their lights out at night? I think this sort of thing scandalous, in the first place because it constitutes a mockery of the sacrament. Now look what he did to his home parish:

"Father Sutch tries to practise what he preaches but has turned the heating down so low at his church of St Benet’s that at least one parishioner has fled to the warmer care of a neighbouring priest for winter services."

... Father Sutch said that he tried “very hard” to live a green lifestyle but admitted that it was difficult. “I try not to turn on my heating but people come and stay with me and demand it. I get attacked for having a cold church. I have cut my electricity bill by 30 per cent.

Who is letting him get away with this? Turning down your heating as a penance is one thing. Turning it down (because you are motivated by fears about global warming) to where your parishioners are adversely effected is something else entirely. I'm sorely tempted to add this to my rapidly-expanding "For Shame!" list.

Update: Others have now noted this story:

• Father Forgive Me - I Threw an Aluminum Can in the Trash (Curt Jester)
• Bless Me Father, For I Have Not Recycled (Cafeteria is Closed)

And I have added this to my "For Shame!" list, as you can see on the sidebar. Looney-tunes!