Search

Results

Catholics can indulge once again

15 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In Moses' time, we learn in this Sunday's reading from the Book of Leviticus, lepers were instructed to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" Catholics who may feel "unclean of spirit" are being offered a different option these days: plenary indulgences, which are reportedly making a comeback in an increasing number of dioceses worldwide after having fallen out of favor decades ago. Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions that faded from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s and 1970s in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Its revival is seen in some quarters as part of a conservative resurgence that has brought some quiet changes and some highly controversial ones, such as Pope Benedict XVI's recent decision to lift the excommunications of four schismatic bishops who challenged the council's reforms. The return of indulgences began with Pope John Paul II, who authorized bishops to offer them in 2000 as part of the celebration of the church's third millennium. But the offers have increased markedly under his successor Benedict XVI, who has made plenary indulgences part of church celebrations nine times in the past three years. According to the websites of a number of U.S. dioceses, Catholics can receive an indulgence by fulfilling the basic requirements of going to confession, receiving Holy Communion, saying a prayer for the pope, and achieving "complete detachment from any inclination to sin." Praying for others and performing acts of charity are also part of gaining an indulgence. But the return of this practice has raised questions, especially for Lutherans, whose churches were born in part from controversy over indulgences. "It has been something of a mystery to us as to why now," said Reverend Michael Root, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. The renewal of indulgences, he said, has "not advanced" the dialogue. "Our main problem has always been the question of quantifying God's blessing," Root said. "Confessions have been down for years and the church is very worried about it," said Father Tom Reese, S.J., former editor of the Jesuit weekly America. In a secularized culture of pop psychology and self-help, Reese said, "the church wants the idea of 'personal sin' back in the equation. Indulgences are a way of reminding people of the importance of penance. "The good news is we're not selling them anymore," he added. Source: An article by Paul Vitello for the New York Times

Penance confession benedict xvi john paul ii plenary indulgences indulgences second vatican council michael root thomas reese

Restricted
Catholics debate ethical bottom line of GOP budget cuts

06 May 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth,” this Sunday’s selection from the First Letter of John exhorts, or as this week's PrepareTheWord reflection says: “Love is not what you say but what you do and intend.” Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, architect of the Republican federal budget plan, has been busy writing columns and giving speeches arguing that the budget expresses values embodied in Catholic social teaching, but Catholic bishops and theologians counter that the proposed cuts to programs aiding the neediest violate core principles of Catholic social teaching. The latest foray occurred last week when Ryan spoke at Georgetown University. He invoked Pope Benedict XVI in defending the budget plan, which contains cuts to federal food aid and Medicaid healthcare for the poor as well as to education grants in order to shrink deficits while preserving defense spending and low tax rates for the wealthy and corporations. "The overarching threat to our whole society today is the exploding federal debt," Ryan said. "The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has charged that governments, communities, and individuals running up high debt levels are 'living at the expense of future generations' and 'living in untruth.' " The psalmist promises this Sunday that among those who respect the Lord “the lowly shall eat their fill.” Ninety Georgetown faculty members and priests signed a letter rebuking the Ryan budget plan for being antithetical to such values. "We would be remiss in our duty to you and our students if we did not challenge your continuing misuse of Catholic teaching to defend a budget plan that decimates food programs for struggling families, radically weakens protections for the elderly and sick, and gives more tax breaks to the wealthiest few," the faculty members wrote. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) also issued a statement rebutting Ryan's assertion that his budget expresses Catholic social teaching. Ryan fought back, stating that the bishops’ letter did not represent all American bishops. The USCCB retorted that its statement did, indeed, represent the views of the bishops. “The pope dislikes the debt as much as anyone,” said Father Thomas J. Reese, S.J. of Georgetown after the speech. “But Pope Benedict would not want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. In fact, Pope Benedict, along with the bishops, would have no problem with raising taxes as part of a comprehensive budget solution.” Sources: Articles by Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service and David Lawder for Reuters

benedict xvi thomas reese united states conference of catholic bishops usccb paul ryan budget georgetown university catholic social teaching

Restricted
Bishops see the light of Day

09 Dec 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s second reading Saint Paul rejoices that the Philippians have become true partners in spreading the gospel, which gives him confidence that “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.” Dorothy Day, for years lauded by Catholic activists for her work with The Catholic Worker movement and progressive causes, has found an unlikely champion in New York’s conservative archbishop, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, who has added his voice to those calling for the completion of Day’s canonization process.Dolan has embraced her cause with striking zeal, observers said: speaking on the anniversaries of her birth and death, distributing Dorothy Day prayer cards to parishes, even buying roughly 100 copies of her biography to give out last year as Christmas gifts to civic officials including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In supporting Day's cause, Dolan follows in the footsteps of one of his predecessors as archbishop of New York, the late Cardinal John O'Connor. Day's cause has already been opened and the officially considers her a "Servant of God."This month, at Dolan’s recommendation, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted unanimously to move forward with her canonization cause, even though, as some of the bishops noted, she had an abortion as a young woman and at one point flirted with joining the Communist Party. “I am convinced she is a saint for our time,” Dolan said at the bishops’ meeting. She exemplifies “what’s best in Catholic life, that ability we have to be ‘both-and’ not ‘either-or.’ ”In recent years Dolan and other conservative Catholics have come to embrace Day, finding inspiration in her decision to support the church’s opposition to abortion as well as her distrust of government and her overall religious orthodoxy. As someone who was both committed to social justice and loyal to church teachings, Day bridges wings of the contemporary church in a way few American Catholic figures can.“For quite a while, the church at the grass roots in the United States has been fairly badly splintered to a kind of peace-and-justice crowd on the left and pro-life crowd on the right,” said John L. Allen, Jr., senior correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter. “And Day is one of those few figures who has traction in both those groups.”Though she was traditional in her religious practices and strong in her love for the church, Day’s relationship with the church hierarchy in her lifetime was not always smooth. But bishops now say Day’s life resonates with the struggles that they are most engaged in today: the fight against abortion and their concern about government intrusion in their affairs.To be canonized as a saint Day will face several major hurdles, according to the Father Thomas J. Reese, S.J., senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center. First, the Vatican must determine that two miracles have occurred as a result of prayers to her since her death. Second, she needs organizational support to keep up a lobbying effort for her, and the Catholic Worker movement she helped found is often ambivalent about the canonization process, fearful that her message will become oversimplified. Day herself once said, “Don't call me a saint. I don't want to be dismissed so easily.”Homily hint: This Sunday’s gospel concerning the courageous prophet John the Baptist offers an opportunity to do a little awareness-raising about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. Here is a Dorothy Day quote from last week’s issue of Exploring the Word to get the conversation going: “No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do.” Source: An article by Sharon Otterman for the New York Times

canonization thomas reese timothy dolan united states conference of catholic bishops dorothy day catholic worker john l allen

Restricted