Catholic Sensibility

Last year, various people involved in our parish music ministry prepared a cd for our previous pastor who was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was a scramble to get various songs recorded before the semester’s end, so we took the easy route with a few chestnuts from the sacred song repertoire. Enjoy another duet of Michael and Jesse, both recent graduates (’12 and ’11 respectively).

Ave Maria, Schubert

Happy Mother’s Day, Eastern Hemisphere readers.

The AP released the news, hopped on by just about every Catholic outlet in the world over the past twenty-four hours, that the curia is pondering a small stack of dossiers in its possession:

(T)he Legion (of Christ) confirmed it had referred seven cases of alleged abuse to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes. All but one involves alleged abuse dating from decades ago; one case involves recent events.

More from the Legion’s statement:

While the priests are under investigation, their access to children has been restricted.

I wonder how strict the restriction is. I hope orthodoxically strict, as in a far sight better than Bishop Finn’s solution.

As bad as the crimes of individual predators may be, the seemingly-inevitable cover-up is far worse:

The scandal of Maciel and the Legion ranks as one of the worst of the 20th-century Catholic Church, since he was held up as a model for the faithful by Pope John Paul II. The orthodox order, which has about 900 priests around the world, was praised for attracting both money and vocations to the priesthood.

Documentation from Vatican archives, however, has shown that as early as the 1950s, the Vatican had evidence that he was a drug addict and pedophile.

Only in 2006 did the Vatican sanction Maciel to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes. He died in 2008 and a year later the Legion admitted he had fathered three children with two different women and had abused his seminarians.

The Vatican took over the Legion in 2010 and is pushing through a process of reform.

Even conservative Catholics in the blogosphere are suggesting words like “suppression” in connection with the Legion. Of course, they’re also swimming in dozens of vocations to cloistered life, so they also say the same thing about the LCWR. On the former suppression, I’m a skeptic, and here ‘s why:

Maybe it lets the Legion off too easily. There’s probably little hope of imposing a new charism on the community. But suppose its ministries were re-ordered to focus on advocacy for victims, and rooting out scandal within the Church. Suppose its fundraising prowess and stockpiles of resources were placed at the service of victims and their legal counsel. And dioceses that were found to offend and might find other ministries devalued through no fault of their own. Suppose the founder were held up as an example of don’t-do-this. From John Paul II’s 2001 address:

In a secularized world such as our own, built in large part on neglect of transcendent truths and values, the faith of many of our brothers and sisters is sorely tried. Because of this, there is a need today more than ever for a confident proclamation of the Gospel which, casting aside all crippling fears, announces with intellectual depth and with courage the truth about God, about (people), about the world.

Let’s be clear that a sign of neglect of these values is in the cronyism, materialism, and secrecy that often accompanies the cover-up of predation in the Church. Preaching the truth, speaking the truth: these are charism the Church needs. Why not let the LC continue if they would re-order their efforts at this? Otherwise, perhaps the whole thing should be erased.

This should be an intriguing match-up. Most of the NPM top-25 songs have been going down in polling in either the first round or in the second. Today we have the penultimate Theological Thirty-Two pairing, in which one will survive and one will be eliminated. By the middle of next week, we’ll be down to the Spiritual Sixteen, an even half of which will be populated by those NPM seeds. But that’s getting ahead of things. Today, first your poll:

The six-seed here combines two of the NPM’s songs, as you know. “Tantum Ergo” is part of the larger work “Pange Lingua.”

If memory serves, “We Are Called” was part of David Haas’s first collection of RCIA music. It’s interesting that his two entries in the Dance, his two arguably most popular songs, we “buried” in the series focused on the rites of Christian Initiation, Who Calls You By Name. RCIA points to the deepest Christian mystery, and Pange Lingua is embedded in our celebration of it. More than intriguing, this is a very fitting match-up. Vote away; you have 72 hours.

And lastly in this chapter covering “Loci and means of catechesis,” let’s look at base communities. Perhaps not so big in the US, but a significant part of the ecclesial experience in other countries, especially in mission lands:

263. Basic ecclesial communities have experienced a great diffusion in recent decades. (Evangelii Nuntiandi 58 indicates how basic ecclesial communities flourish nearly everywhere in the Church. RM 51 refers to them as a phenomenon in rapid growth.) These are groups of Christians which “arise because (people) want to live the life of the Church with greater fervor or because they desire and seek a more human way of life which large ecclesial communities cannot easily provide”. (Evangelii Nuntiandi 58c)

Basic ecclesial communities are a sign of the “Church’s vitality”. (Redemptoris Missio 51a; cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi 58f; Libertatis Conscientia 69) The disciples of Christ gather together in them so as to hear the word of God, to develop fraternal bonds, to celebrate the Christian mysteries in their lives and to assume responsibility for transforming society. In addition to these specifically Christian concerns other important human values emerge: friendship, personal recognition, a spirit of co-responsibility, creativity, vocational response, concern for the problems of the world and of the Church. From them, an enriched community experience can result, “a true expression of communion and a means for the construction of a more profound communion”. (Redemptoris Missio 51c) To be authentic, “every community must live in union with the particular and the universal Church, in heartfelt communion with the Church’s Pastors and the Magisterium, with a commitment to missionary outreach and without yielding to isolationism or ideological exploitation”. (Redemptoris Missio 51; cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi 58; Libertatis Conscientia 69)

This is a bit off-topic, but it strikes me that some of the frustration on the more extreme ends of the Church in recent years is due in part to an unfulfilled discernment on forming and living these communities. The Desert Movement of the fourth century was an admission that mainstream society was not an optimal locus for living the Gospel. In response, people withdrew into associations where the Christian life could be explored in a very intentional way.

264. In basic ecclesial communities an extremely enriching catechesis can be developed:

– The fraternal climate, in which it lives, is an environment suitable for integral catechetical activity, providing that the proper nature and character of catechesis is respected;

– On the other hand, catechesis must strive to deepen community life so as to ensure a basis for the Christian life of the faithful, without which basic Christian communities lack stability;

– The small Community is always a suitable place to receive those who have concluded a catechetical journey.

Thoughts on this, especially the notion that catechesis is essential for maintaining stability in a base community?

The name is important. I’ve outlined the text here to bullet points:

7. A day should be chosen for the dedication of the new church when the people can be present in large numbers, especially a Sunday. Since the theme of the dedication pervades this entire rite, the dedication of a new church may not take place on days on which it is altogether improper to disregard the mystery then being commemorated: the Easter Triduum, Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, Pentecost, Ash Wednesday, the weekdays of Holy Week, and All Souls.

A reader has provided me with a copy of the 2003 draft of the RDCA, a document which was intended to upgrade this 1977 edition, buyt has yet to see official approval. As we move through the first (and so far, only) post-conciliar RDCA, I’ll comment where it seems the 2003 offers significant insights.

Today’s section is fairly routine and gives expected advice on when to celebrate. Remember that a dedication anniversary is to be celebrated in subsequent years, so if possible, keep this in mind when assigning a day or Sunday of the year.