Abp. Weakland's pilrimage ends in coming out

I note this story more out of obligation than interest. Apparently he is coming out with a book.

I'll leave a priest with the task of dealing with the media coverage, and supplying counsel.

Idiot: "Paraguayan president, bishop admits paternity"

How did this guy get ordained a bishop?!

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo admitted Monday he is the father of a child conceived while he was still a Roman Catholic bishop.

Lugo surprised journalists by acknowledging he had an intimate relationship with Viviana Carrillo, the child's mother — just five days after lawyers for Carrillo announced they were filing a paternity suit against him. (AP)

The Vatican has been extraordinarily generous in its dealings with him.

UK bishop "thrilled" by Obama's election ... or is he?

LifeSiteNews reports:

A British Catholic bishop has issued a statement enthusiastically welcoming the man who has been labelled the “most pro-abortion US president in history” – president-elect Barack Obama. Bishop Crispian Hollis of the Portsmouth diocese in southern England has said he is “thrilled” at the election of Obama.

The bishop’s message, posted on the website of the Portsmouth diocese, says, “With millions of others, I have been thrilled by Barack Obama’s victory and I thank God for it. For me, it represents a rare moment of hope and optimism which shows American democracy at its best and it is of seismic significance and potential for the whole global community. And so, more than ever now, he deserves and needs us to keep him in our prayers.”

This ardent welcome from Hollis, known in Britain to be on the extreme left of the Catholic Church, is in sharp contrast to a letter issued yesterday by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, in which they warned Obama that “aggressive pro-abortion policies, legislation and executive orders will permanently alienate tens of millions of Americans, and would be seen by many as an attack on the free exercise of their religion.”

But an update from Damian Thompson:

Bishop Hollis has now "clarified" his message as follows:

I genuinely welcome [Mr Obama's] election because he represents such a different political profile from that of President Bush. America – and the world – needs that political change and will benefit from it.However, I am aware of what he has said about abortion and about the so-called freedom of choice and I deplore his words.

There is no way in which I endorse his position on these crucial “life” matters, nor, as a Catholic bishop, could I ever do so.Perhaps it’s naïve to say this but I hope and pray that the realities of the political process will mean that he has to temper his personal policies on these all important life issues and pay serious attention to the outrage with which many view his “life” agenda.

That's much better, though I don't think the Bishop should present his own party political views on a diocesan website. I'm glad he's deplored Obama's extreme pro-abortion opinions; I would have thought that he would have mentioned them in his original message, but maybe they slipped his mind.

Too bad, I was waiting for the pro-Obama Catholics to register their outrage at Bishop Hollis' brutal display of partisanship. Yawn.

Malignant Milingo

I for one, am of this mind:

In 2006 Abp. Emmanuel Milingo was excommunicated for illicitly ordaining married men to the episcopate. Now, Abp. Milingo is traipsing through his native Zambia trying to get Catholic priests to agitate for an end to priestly celibacy in the Roman Church. The excommunicated archbishop assures clergy not to worry about ecclesiastical repercussions because "excommunication does not exist."

Folks, I've had it with Abp. Milingo's incessant eye-pokes against priestly celibacy. If you have, too, read what can be done about him. {update - link fixed}

Was Lugo the first laicized bishop in history, or not?

Ed Peters weighs in on the debate which is taking place - amazingly - in the pages of The Economist!

Will ex-bishop Lugo be allowed to resume his ministry in the future?

This author thinks so but that's not what I've heard:

Having scored a popularity rating as high as 97 percent, Lugo had received a "special dispensation from Pope Benedict XVI to leave the church to become president, with the option of returning to the clergy" after holding public office in the secular world. Lugo's sister, Mercedes, will assume the traditional, ceremonial role of a presidential spouse to assist her unmarried brother in his new, political job. She told an Argentine newspaper: "I'm virtually convinced that, when Fernando Lugo finishes his term, he will return to religious life." Lugo himself "has renounced his $40,000 presidential salary and urged other politicians to do the same as a symbol of his vows for economic austerity and transparency." At his swearing-in ceremony, he told an audience of some 15,000 onlookers: "I have no need of this money, which belongs to more humble people...." He also said he "would be 'implacable with the robbers of the people' in his chronically corrupt nation." (Agence France Presse)

Previous stories about the Lugo saga archived here.

Offbeat: Fake "bishop" operating in Dallas

Fake priests, I've heard about. But fake bishops?!

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas is warning worshippers to beware of a fake bishop who charges for holy services that priests do for free.

Bishop Kevin Farrell, in a statement Monday, said he's been contacted by the Archbishop of Acapulco, Mexico, about a man named Martin Davila Gandara operating in the Dallas area.

Farrell says the man is not a bishop or associated with the Roman Catholic church.

Some of the services, such as baptisms, allegedly were offered in places like motels for fees of $100 to $200. (ABC Local 13)

Newsflash: bishops don't normally conduct sacraments in motels.

In all seriousness, this is most probably someone preying upon unsuspecting immigrant Latinos, which is even more reprehensible considering the typical financial status of such individuals.

Text: Excerpt of Vatican's communique to ex-bishop Lugo

Translated exclusviely for AmP by a Spanish-speaking friend:

The recent situation which has been created with the election of Mons. Fernando Lugo President of the Republic of Paraguay demands another consideration of, for the good of the country and so that the charge of President of the Republic and the Episcopal ministry can be clearly and definitively distinguished, the petition that he presented in his day that the loss of his clerical state be conceded. In effect, his acceptance of the charge of President of the Republic of Paraguay is not compatible with the obligations of Episcopal ministry and clerical state.

In this way, having carefully examined all the circumstances, His Holiness Benedict XVI has conceded for him the loss of clerical state, with the corresponding loss of those rights inherent to that state, dispensing him at the same time of his religious vows made in the Society of the Divine Word, of the obligation to celibacy (cf. CIC can. 291), and of the other obligations which make up the clerical state (cf. CIC can. 292).

The Pontiff exhorts to Mr. Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez to be faithful to the Catholic faith in which he was baptized and to live a life coherent with the Gospel.

Note the use of "Mr." (as opposed to "Rev.") in the final address.

The original, full Spanish text is available here.

Unearthed Vatican Letter to Bishops Emphasizes Choice of Defiance

Wow, I knew this happened, but the documentation makes it crystal clear:

During the tumultuous years of the 1960's Pope Paul VI published a controversial encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which addressed the issue of birth control in light of the arrival of the birth control pill.

Today LifeSiteNews.com is publishing a recently unearthed letter which was sent to Bishops with a pre-release copy of the encyclical. The letter, dated July 19, 1968, is signed by the late Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani, who was then-Secretary of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The outright defiance of many priests and even bishops to Pope Paul VI's encyclical - which restated and reinforced the Church's long-time opposition to artificial birth control - is even graver in light of the carefully worded letter the bishops received specifically pointing to the urgent need for unity on the matter.

[Read more about the letter.]

[Read the actual text of the letter.]

Meanwhile? Are Catholics ready to hear about the Church's teaching?

Maybe not everwhere, but sometimes ... they applaud.

Confirmed: Vatican laicizes former bishop to become president of Paraguay

If it's true [update: it is true], this is the first time it's happened, and Cardinal Re was mistake in his prognosis (see below):

Pope Benedict granted Paraguay's president-elect a historic waiver to allow the former bishop to take office next month without violating church rules, a Vatican representative said on Wednesday.

The Pope gave Fernando Lugo a special dispensation, downgrading him to layman's status, said Orlando Antonini, the Vatican's ambassador to Asuncion.

Lugo was elected president in April, ending more than 60 years of one-party rule in the poor South American country notorious for corruption and contraband.

"It's the first time this is granted. It was accepted because the people have chosen him and ... because his clerical status is incompatible with serving as president," Antonini told a news conference.

"The Pope has granted him the loss of his clerical status ... he's a layman now," Antonini said after meeting with Lugo. (Reuters)

I'm surprised that this story is not being reported more widely. Reuters, however, can normally be trusted to get this sort of thing basically right [update: it did this time.]

Prensa Latina adds more details:

Papal Nuncio to Paraguay Orlando Antonini delivered Lugo the resolution in which the former San Pedro bishop requested on December 28, 2007 the loss of his clerical state to aspire to the presidency in the April 20 general elections.

"The Holy See after trying to dissuade Lugo not to present himself to the Republic's presidency has suspended him in the priestly exercise," said Antonini, who noted that the Pope granted him a definitive and perpetual dispensation.

This really is the final resolution, arriving earlier than expected.

Back in May, when I last covered this story, Cardinal Re said this solution was impossible:

Lugo was named a bishop in 1994. He had since asked Benedict XVI to be able to "renounce his ecclesial ministry […] to take up again the condition of a layperson in the Church."

The petition was not accepted because, as Cardinal Re noted, "the episcopacy is a service accepted freely forever."

Curious and Curiouser.

update: considering they held a press conference, I'd say it's official:



Orlando Antonini, Vatican's ambassador to Asuncion, speaks during a news conference, in Asuncion July 30, 2008, after a meeting with Paraguay's President-elect Fernando Lugo. Pope Benedict granted Paraguay's president-elect a historic waiver to allow the former bishop to take office next month without violating church rules, Antonini said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno (PARAGUAY)



Paraguay's President-elect Fernando Lugo (L) meets with Orlando Antonini, Vatican's ambassador to Asuncion, in Asuncion July 30, 2008. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno (PARAGUAY)

update 2: The Associated Press reports.

update 3: Here is the text of the Vatican communique from Cardinal Re in Spanish, with excerpts of it here in English. update 4: Here is an English translation of the most important part of the communique.

Pigs Fly: Cardinal Mahony bars liberal Aussie bishop from speaking

Wonders never cease, and I'm glad they don't.

Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson was recently condemned for "doctrinal difficulties" by the Australian Bishops Conference, and when Voice of the Faithful invited him to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to deliver a lecture, none other than Cardinal Mahony decided to step in:

Cardinal Roger Mahony has denied an Australian bishop permission to speak in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles after the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference issued a statement warning of “doctrinal difficulties” present in the bishop’s writings. (CNA)

How Cardinal Mahony handled it:

Archbishop of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony in a May 9 letter asked Bishop Robinson not to speak in his archdiocese.

Saying he was “once again” writing regarding Bishop Robinson’s scheduled June 12 speaking engagement in the archdiocese, Cardinal Mahony said, “Your letter informing me of your coming appearance made it clear that you were not seeking my permission or approval, that you were planning to come regardless.”

In his letter, Cardinal Mahony said he had recently learned of the Australian bishops’ statement about the bishop’s book. He also said he had learned that Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops, has urged Bishop Robinson to cancel his U.S. visit.

Cardinal Mahony requested Bishop Robinson to cancel his visit, citing Canon 763 of Canon Law. The canon pertains to a bishop’s duty to safeguard the teachings of the Church in his diocese.

“Under the provisions of Canon 763, I hereby deny you permission to speak in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,” the cardinal wrote. He also urged Bishop Robinson to cancel his entire speaking tour and to work with the Australian bishops’ conference, saying he would expect him to “follow exactly” their recommendations.

[update: here is a link with the original full text of the Cardinal's letter.]

Let's ponder what this means: Cardinal Mahony has chosen to use his authority as a bishop under canon law to "safeguard the teachings of the Church in his diocese" when a dissenting bishop was invited to speak by a (dissenting) private Catholic group.

Even if the Cardinal was motivated by a fear that Bishop Robinson was being disrespectful of his authority, the bottom line is that Cardinal Mahony did the correct thing, and a brave one. He even managed to get on the bad side of Voice of the Faithful:

Dan Bartley, president of Voice of the Faithful, criticized Cardinal Mahony’s refusal of permission to Bishop Robinson’s Los Angeles lecture.

“Why is a loyal Catholic bishop prevented from asking honest questions in his search for the truth in the aftermath of the worst scandal in the modern Church?” Bartley said.

A statement from Voice of the Faithful said the ban would harm the Church, saying Bishop Robinson “obviously loves the Church.” The statement suggested that the Australian bishops’ statement was questionable in its conclusions about Bishop Robinson’s doctrinal stands.

Bishop Robinson is also scheduled to speak in Seattle, San Diego and Boston. It is possible to predict situation where Cardinal Mahony will end up acting with greater integrity than Cardinal O'Malley.

AmP readers have previously criticized my coverage of Cardinal Mahony, saying that I am too harsh and never have anything good to say about him. However, the fact of the matter is that I'm only happy to say good things about him provided I think he has acted for the best interest of the Church - which he is solemnly charged to safeguard. Sadly, most of the stories that cross my desk have not been of this sort. But here is one of those (rare) occasions where I can praise a decision of this Cardinal's.

What could account for this anomaly? It makes me think back to this post I wrote a few weeks ago, commenting upon an editorial that Cardinal Mahony published saying he was a "different disciple" after the pope's visit. Specifically he said that he had gained a realization of his "own mistakes and failures over the years" and that these represented a "weight that I failed to realize was holding me down."

At the time, I expressed my skepticism that such a realization might actually be the case, but I also said at the same time: "I dearly hope that Mahony's change of heart is authentic and bears fruit through internal and external reform." Well, The best sign of an internal change of heart is changed external action, and now we have one.

Time will tell, but let's hope this wonder never ceases.

(A little more backstory is available at CathNews. Photo credit: CNA.)

update: This author thinks Mahony acted more out of annoyance because his authority was being ignored than a true interest in safekeeping doctrinal integrity in his archdiocese. What do you think?

Developments on Lugo: contrite or obstinant?

The current president-elect of Paraguay is a suspended Catholic bishop. I blogged about the story here.

On Monday, he asked for pardon from Pope Benedict:

Fernando Lugo asked forgiveness particularly to Benedict XVI on Monday after having been elected Sunday as Paraguay's next president. "If my attitude and my disobedience of canon law caused sorrow, I sincerely ask forgiveness to the people of the Church. In particular, I ask pardon to Pope Benedict XVI," Lugo said on the radio channel Fe y Alegria (Faith and Joy). According to canon law, clerics cannot run for political offices.

Lugo told the radio station that he is ready to dialogue to find a "satisfactory solution" for himself and the Church. Sources in the Holy See confirmed that the unique situation is being studied, though time is needed. (Zenit)

Rocco reports that "other sources held out the possibility that the onetime provincial of the Divine Word Fathers could return to ministry following the end of his five-year term in office."

Unfortunately, things are not so simple. In Cardinal Re's words as quoted by Zenit:

Lugo was named a bishop in 1994. He had since asked Benedict XVI to be able to "renounce his ecclesial ministry […] to take up again the condition of a layperson in the Church."

The petition was not accepted because, as Cardinal Re noted, "the episcopacy is a service accepted freely forever."

If Lugo wants to return to ministry, he needs to give up his political office first. It's hard to argue that he is truly contrite and obedient to the discipline of Rome if he is only willing to give it up the presidency when it is taken from him by the next election process years down the road.

Vatican to take disciplinary action against renegade Paraguayan bishop?

The headline gives us the picture: Former bishop Fernando Lugo scores historic win in Paraguay.

The story fills it in:

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election Sunday, ending more than six decades of one-party rule with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous.

.... News of the win by the gray-bearded Lugo, dubbed the "bishop of the poor," set off massive parties in cities across Paraguay with horn-honking caravans of cars blaring music. Others stamped on torn-down banners of the Colorado Party, which many Paraguayans blame for decades of corruption by political elites.

.... In Paraguay's long-volatile politics, Lugo still awaited final official returns confirming his landmark triumph, which would make him he first former Catholic bishop elected as a president.

.... A bishop since 1994, he resigned the post in December 2006 to sidestep Paraguay's constitutional ban on clergy seeking office. Lugo says he was influenced by the liberation theology frowned upon by the Vatican. But he says he is neither on the left nor the right, but leads a pluralistic coalition.

Trouble is, it's meaningless to "resign" from being a priest (or a bishop) in the Catholic church.

[edited - see update below]

Canon Lawyer Ed Peters (my father) explains the complexities of the canonical case:

Pope Benedict XVI is believed to be mulling over the possibility of expelling a bishop, Fernando Lugo, from the clerical state. That would certainly be a first under the 1983 Code (the Jacques Gaillot case in 1995 was not a precedent; Gaillot was removed from office, but not from the clerical state), and I'm pretty sure it never happened under the 1917 Code.

[More arcanum and "practicalum" in his post.]

Catholic World News follows the above-cited canonical analysis of Ed Peters, and adds this:

A former Divine Word missionary, Lugo was named Bishop of San Pedro in 1994. He resigned that post in 2005, citing health issues. He is now 58 years old and his health appears to be fine.

How shocking. A miraculous recovery. Must have been a sign, right?

The Vatican's spokesmen, Fr. Federico Lombardi, says they are going to "take things slow."

In other words, don't expect an immediate specific condemnation of the bishop's most recent action (winning the election). Lugo is already in enough trouble for abandoning his ministry, so he's not going to get into more trouble for succeeding at what he left his office to accomplish. If anything, in accepting the position he proclaims his obduracy in sin. Plus the Vatican doesn't want to look like it is meddling in the political process.

update: Gregor of TNLM, in the comments section to this post, raises the possibility that removal of a bishop from the clerical state is in fact impossible, citing a statement by Cardinal Re. Considering that the original "source" for these rumors that the pope was considering removing Lugo from the clerical state is not the Vatican but instead a UK newspaper, it's not surprising that they would get this matter of fact wrong.

Heck, these journalists can't even get the concept of laicization down in the first place (instead they often use the non-technical term "defrocking", which they actually used again in today's story).

Updates as I see them....

update 2: Ed Peters responds that dismissing a bishop from the clerical state is not impossible, but will save explaining why until later tonight when he can do so at length on his blog. So check back there.

Arch. of Milwaukee facing $3M deficit, forced to cut personnel & programs

Bleak times for the City of Festivals.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is facing a $3 million deficit in its current budget and will need to make substantial cuts in staffing and services for the fiscal year that begins July 1, partly because a deal to sell the Cousins Center fell through, an archdiocesan spokesman said Wednesday.

[The letter from Archbishop Dolan and] other information also have been posted at the archdiocese's Web site, http://www.archmil.org/, as part of Dolan's effort to share information with the region's 675,000 Catholics.

A clarification included for Milwaukee residents:

"... the archdiocese's ongoing $105 million Faith in Our Future capital campaign would not be used to balance the budget or to pay sexual abuse costs. It is intended to fund new programs and endowments at the archdiocesan and parish levels, and its funds will be held in a charitable trust outside the assets of the archdiocese."

An reminder not included for Milwaukee residents today, but published by Rod Dreherin 2002:

Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee, the most liberal bishop in America, has been disgraced by the revelation that he paid $450,000 in hush money to buy the silence of an apparent former male lover.

... Weakland wears his dissent as a badge of honor.

"Members of the Roman Curia often referred to me as a 'maverick,'" the archbishop wrote in his archdiocesan newspaper column last May.

"The best compliment I received, then, came from a religious superior in Rome who said: 'Rome does not know what to do with Weakland. He is a free man.' I feel I have been able to maintain my own dignity and identity through it all."

... In the last few months, Weakland defied an order from the Vatican to halt his $4.5 million dollar extremely modernistic renovation of Milwaukee's historic cathedral, which was left ravaged by the procedure. One puzzled Catholic described the new stripped-down space as akin to "a fancy Baptist church with a very large communion table." (National Review Online, 5/24/02)

As Rod points out:

Neither Weakland nor the money-grubbing Marcoux are victims. The Catholics of Milwaukee are. Their archbishop's arrogance and selfishness in the seedy Marcoux matter has cost them nearly half a million dollars. But in truth, the intangible cost is much higher.

I would argue that the tangible costs of Weakland's dishonesty and parasitism, if today is any example, are also still rising much higher. This from a man who reserved a website for himself (at least in 2006).

Maybe adding a donation button to help out his beleaguered ex-diocese would be in order, for a start.

UK Catholic Bishop supports legalization of prostitution

The background:

The Hampshire branch of the [International Union for Sex], which has 7,000 members, voted to legalise brothels at its annaul meeting held in the small village of Holybourne.

Members said they had been distressed and moved by the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich last year and wanted to do something to help.

Now they hope their resolution will be selected for a national WI debate and they intend to lobby MPs and local councillors to change the law.

The local bishop's response?

"If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens, I think there is a need to make sure it's as well regulated as possible for the health of people involved and for the safety of the ladies themselves," Hollis said.

"That's not to say I approve of prostitution in any way. I would be very much happier if there was no prostitution in Portsmouth," he told The Portsmouth News.

"But it's going to be there whatever we do and it has been from time immemorial. So I think that is something we have to be realistic about."

His comments won praise from Rachel Frost, from the International Union for Sex Workers.

"The bishop should be commended for having the guts to come out and say that," she said.

Your reactions?

Promoting condoms = early retirement for Netherlands bishop?

In a time when overserving is the norm for most bishops, an early retirement might be notable:

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Petrus Maria Martinus "Tiny" Muskens of the diocese of Breda in the Netherlands.

... Not yet 72, Bishop Muskens is over three years from the usual retirement age of 75, but has surrendered the pastoral governance of the diocese in conformance with can. 401 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law. The canon states, "A diocesan Bishop who, because of illness or some other grave reason, has become unsuited for the fulfilment of his office, is earnestly requested to offer his resignation from office."

Bishop Muskens gained notoriety in 2006 by advocating the use of condoms to stop AIDS. The bishop told Radio Netherlands that the use of condoms can be acceptable for AIDS prevention and cited the Catholic theological position of the “lesser evil” to defend his idea. Muskens was quoted saying, “It is permissible to opt for the lesser evil of condom use to prevent the greater evil of AIDS.”

Earlier this year he was quoted on Dutch television encouraging Catholic faithful to pray to God as "Allah" in order to promote a better relationship between Catholics and Muslims. [LSN has two related stories.]

72 is no spring chicken, and the see already had a coadjutor ready to step in (Mgr. Johannes Harmannes Jozefus van den Hende), but still, one wonders.

Milingo gets grounded by the Vatican (so to speak)

They pulled his Vatican-issued passport which he was planning to use for an upcoming visit to Rome. Hehe.