St. Raphael and St. Rose

Catholic News Association/EWTN News — Pope Francis’ address at the conclusion of the Synod on the Family, delivered Saturday, was met with a four-minute standing ovation on the part of the bishops attending the Vatican meeting.

In the Oct. 18 speech, the pope thanked the bishops for their efforts, and noted the various temptations that can arise in such a synod setting. He encouraged the bishops to live in the tension, saying that “personally I would be very worried and saddened if it were not for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement of the spirits, as St. Ignatius called it (Spiritual Exercises, 6), if all were in a state of agreement, or silent in a false and quietist peace.”

Bohumil Petrik/CNA Pope Francis departs the Vatican's Synod Hall Oct. 16.

“Instead, I have seen and I have heard – with joy and appreciation – speeches and interventions full of faith, of pastoral and doctrinal zeal, of wisdom, of frankness and of courage: and of parrhesia. And I have felt that what was set before our eyes was the good of the Church, of families, and the ‘supreme law,’ the ‘good of souls’ (cf. Can. 1752).”

In conclusion, looking forward to the 2015 synod, which will also be on the family, Pope Francis said, “now we still have one year to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families.”

Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ address, according to the provisional translation provided by Vatican Radio:

Dear Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellencies, Brothers and Sisters,

With a heart full of appreciation and gratitude I want to thank, along with you, the Lord who has accompanied and guided us in the past days, with the light of the Holy Spirit.

From the heart I thank Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod, Bishop Fabio Fabene, under-secretary, and with them I thank the Relators, Cardinal Peter Erdo, who has worked so much in these days of family mourning, and the Special Secretary Bishop Bruno Forte, the three President delegates, the transcribers, the consultors, the translators and the unknown workers, all those who have worked with true fidelity and total dedication behind the scenes and without rest. Thank you so much from the heart.

I thank all of you as well, dear Synod fathers, Fraternal Delegates, Auditors, and Assessors, for your active and fruitful participation. I will keep you in prayer asking the Lord to reward you with the abundance of His gifts of grace!

I can happily say that – with a spirit of collegiality and of synodality – we have truly lived the experience of “Synod,” a path of solidarity, a “journey together.”

And it has been “a journey” – and like every journey there were moments of running fast, as if wanting to conquer time and reach the goal as soon as possible; other moments of fatigue, as if wanting to say “enough”; other moments of enthusiasm and ardour. There were moments of profound consolation listening to the testimony of true pastors, who wisely carry in their hearts the joys and the tears of their faithful people. Moments of consolation and grace and comfort hearing the testimonies of the families who have participated in the Synod and have shared with us the beauty and the joy of their married life. A journey where the stronger feel compelled to help the less strong, where the more experienced are led to serve others, even through confrontations. And since it is a journey of human beings, with the consolations there were also moments of desolation, of tensions and temptations, of which a few possibilities could be mentioned:

- One, a temptation to hostile inflexibility, that is, wanting to close oneself within the written word, (the letter) and not allowing oneself to be surprised by God, by the God of surprises, (the spirit); within the law, within the certitude of what we know and not of what we still need to learn and to achieve. From the time of Christ, it is the temptation of the zealous, of the scrupulous, of the solicitous and of the so-called – today – “traditionalists” and also of the intellectuals.

- The temptation to a destructive tendency to goodness [it. buonismo], that in the name of a deceptive mercy binds the wounds without first curing them and treating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and the roots. It is the temptation of the “do-gooders,” of the fearful, and also of the so-called “progressives and liberals.”

- The temptation to transform stones into bread to break the long, heavy, and painful fast (cf. Lk 4:1-4); and also to transform the bread into a stone and cast it against the sinners, the weak, and the sick (cf Jn 8:7), that is, to transform it into unbearable burdens (Lk 11:46).

- The temptation to come down off the Cross, to please the people, and not stay there, in order to fulfil the will of the Father; to bow down to a worldly spirit instead of purifying it and bending it to the Spirit of God.

- The temptation to neglect the “depositum fidei” [the deposit of faith], not thinking of themselves as guardians but as owners or masters [of it]; or, on the other hand, the temptation to neglect reality, making use of meticulous language and a language of smoothing to say so many things and to say nothing! They call them “byzantinisms,” I think, these things…

Dear brothers and sisters, the temptations must not frighten or disconcert us, or even discourage us, because no disciple is greater than his master; so if Jesus Himself was tempted – and even called Beelzebul (cf. Mt 12:24) – His disciples should not expect better treatment.

Personally I would be very worried and saddened if it were not for these temptations and these animated discussions; this movement of the spirits, as St Ignatius called it (Spiritual Exercises, 6), if all were in a state of agreement, or silent in a false and quietist peace. Instead, I have seen and I have heard – with joy and appreciation – speeches and interventions full of faith, of pastoral and doctrinal zeal, of wisdom, of frankness and of courage: and of parrhesia. And I have felt that what was set before our eyes was the good of the Church, of families, and the “supreme law,” the “good of souls” (cf. Can. 1752). And this always – we have said it here, in the Hall – without ever putting into question the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of marriage: the indissolubility, the unity, the faithfulness, the fruitfulness, that openness to life (cf. Cann. 1055, 1056; and Gaudium et spes, 48).

And this is the Church, the vineyard of the Lord, the fertile Mother and the caring Teacher, who is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to pour oil and wine on people’s wound; who doesn’t see humanity as a house of glass to judge or categorize people. This is the Church, One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and composed of sinners, needful of God’s mercy. This is the Church, the true bride of Christ, who seeks to be faithful to her spouse and to her doctrine. It is the Church that is not afraid to eat and drink with prostitutes and publicans. The Church that has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the penitent, and not only the just or those who believe they are perfect! The Church that is not ashamed of the fallen brother and pretends not to see him, but on the contrary feels involved and almost obliged to lift him up and to encourage him to take up the journey again and accompany him toward a definitive encounter with her Spouse, in the heavenly Jerusalem.

The is the Church, our Mother! And when the Church, in the variety of her charisms, expresses herself in communion, she cannot err: it is the beauty and the strength of the sensus fidei, of that supernatural sense of the faith which is bestowed by the Holy Spirit so that, together, we can all enter into the heart of the Gospel and learn to follow Jesus in our life. And this should never be seen as a source of confusion and discord.

Many commentators, or people who talk, have imagined that they see a disputatious Church where one part is against the other, doubting even the Holy Spirit, the true promoter and guarantor of the unity and harmony of the Church – the Holy Spirit who throughout history has always guided the barque, through her Ministers, even when the sea was rough and choppy, and the ministers unfaithful and sinners.

And, as I have dared to tell you , [as] I told you from the beginning of the Synod, it was necessary to live through all this with tranquillity, and with interior peace, so that the Synod would take place cum Petro and sub Petro (with Peter and under Peter), and the presence of the Pope is the guarantee of it all.

We will speak a little bit about the Pope, now, in relation to the Bishops [laughing]. So, the duty of the Pope is that of guaranteeing the unity of the Church; it is that of reminding the faithful of their duty to faithfully follow the Gospel of Christ; it is that of reminding the pastors that their first duty is to nourish the flock – to nourish the flock – that the Lord has entrusted to them, and to seek to welcome – with fatherly care and mercy, and without false fears – the lost sheep. I made a mistake here. I said welcome: [rather] to go out and find them.

His duty is to remind everyone that authority in the Church is a service, as Pope Benedict XVI clearly explained, with words I cite verbatim: “The Church is called and commits herself to exercise this kind of authority which is service and exercises it not in her own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ… through the Pastors of the Church, in fact: it is he who guides, protects and corrects them, because he loves them deeply. But the Lord Jesus, the supreme Shepherd of our souls, has willed that the Apostolic College, today the Bishops, in communion with the Successor of Peter… to participate in his mission of taking care of God’s People, of educating them in the faith and of guiding, inspiring and sustaining the Christian community, or, as the Council puts it, ‘to see to it... that each member of the faithful shall be led in the Holy Spirit to the full development of his own vocation in accordance with Gospel preaching, and to sincere and active charity’ and to exercise that liberty with which Christ has set us free (cf. Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6)… and it is through us,” Pope Benedict continues, “that the Lord reaches souls, instructs, guards and guides them. St Augustine, in his Commentary on the Gospel of St John, says: ‘let it therefore be a commitment of love to feed the flock of the Lord’ (cf. 123, 5); this is the supreme rule of conduct for the ministers of God, an unconditional love, like that of the Good Shepherd, full of joy, given to all, attentive to those close to us and solicitous for those who are distant (cf. St Augustine, Discourse 340, 1; Discourse 46, 15), gentle towards the weakest, the little ones, the simple, the sinners, to manifest the infinite mercy of God with the reassuring words of hope (cf. ibid., Epistle, 95, 1).”

So, the Church is Christ’s – she is His bride – and all the bishops, in communion with the Successor of Peter, have the task and the duty of guarding her and serving her, not as masters but as servants. The Pope, in this context, is not the supreme lord but rather the supreme servant – the “servant of the servants of God”; the guarantor of the obedience and the conformity of the Church to the will of God, to the Gospel of Christ, and to the Tradition of the Church, putting aside every personal whim, despite being – by the will of Christ Himself – the “supreme Pastor and Teacher of all the faithful” (Can. 749) and despite enjoying “supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church” (cf. Cann. 331-334).

Dear brothers and sisters, now we still have one year to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to so many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families must confront; to give answers to the many discouragements that surround and suffocate families.

One year to work on the “Synodal Relatio” which is the faithful and clear summary of everything that has been said and discussed in this hall and in the small groups. It is presented to the Episcopal Conferences as “lineamenta” [guidelines].

May the Lord accompany us, and guide us in this journey for the glory of His Name, with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph. And please, do not forget to pray for me! Thank you!

[The Te Deum was sung, and Benediction given.]

Thank you, and rest well, eh?

By Francis X. Rocca / Catholic News Service — The official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops, which uses strikingly conciliatory language toward divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and same-sex unions, has proven highly controversial inside and outside the synod hall, with some synod fathers saying it does not accurately reflect the assembly’s views.

Following a nearly hourlong speech Oct. 13 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, who, as the synod’s relator, has the task of guiding the discussion and synthesizing its results, 41 of the 184 synod fathers present took the floor to comment the same morning, the Vatican said.

According to the Vatican’s summary of their remarks, which did not quote bishops by name in accordance with synod rules, a number of synod fathers objected that Cardinal Erdo’s text lacked certain necessary references to Catholic moral teaching.

“In regard to homosexuality, there was noted the need for welcoming, with the right degree of prudence, so as not to create the impression of a positive valuation of that orientation,” the summary said. “It was hoped that the same care would be taken in regard to cohabitation.”

Bishops also remarked on the midterm report’s scarce references to the concept of sin, and encouraged the assembly to emulate the “prophetic tone of Jesus, to avoid the risk of conforming to the mentality of today’s world.”

Regarding one of the synod’s most discussed topics, a proposal by German Cardinal Walter Kasper to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion, at least one bishop argued that it would be “difficult to welcome some exceptions without in reality turning it into a general rule.”

Some members of the synod made their objections public.

U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, told Catholic World Report that the midterm report “advances positions which many synod fathers do not accept and, I would say, as faithful shepherds of the flock cannot accept. Clearly, the response to the document in the discussion which immediately followed its presentation manifested that a great number of synod fathers found it objectionable.”

Cardinal Burke accused leaders of the synod of giving the public a distorted image of the proceedings, almost all of which are closed to the press.

“All of the information regarding the synod is controlled by the General Secretariat of the synod, which clearly has favored from the beginning the positions expressed” in the midterm report, the cardinal said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see the approach at work, which is certainly not of the church.”

Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, Poland, president of the Polish bishops’ conference, told Vatican Radio that Cardinal Erdo’s speech was not acceptable to many synod fathers, because it departed from the theology of St. John Paul II and reflected an ideology hostile to marriage by seeming to approve of same-sex couples raising children, among other ways.

The midterm report “should be an incentive to fidelity, family values, but instead seems to accept everything as it is,” the archbishop said.

The controversy over the report prompted the synod’s General Secretariat to issue a statement Oct. 14, lamenting that a “value has been attributed to the document that does not correspond to its nature” and emphasizing that it is a “working document, which summarizes the interventions and debate of the first week, and is now being offered for discussion by the members of the synod.”

The bishops were to work in small groups of about 20 each, discussing Cardinal Erdo’s speech and presenting their conclusions to the entire assembly Oct. 16.

Speaking to reporters Oct. 14, Cardinal Wilfrid F. Napier of Durban, South Africa, said his group had found in the midterm report “quite a lot of things which are expressed in a way which we certainly wouldn’t feel that are very helpful to giving a clear idea of where the church stands on some of the issues that are being raised.”

“Individual things that were said by individuals, may have been repeated a couple of times, are put in here as if they really do reflect the feeling of the whole synod. They’ve been picked up by the media then and made to be the message of the synod. I think that’s where the upset is,” he said.

The cardinal would not specify the statements or topics in question. When asked about media reports that Cardinal Erdo’s speech represented a new overture to divorced Catholics and homosexuals, he said, “That’s one of the reasons why there’s been such an upset among the synod fathers, because we’re now working from a position that’s virtually irredeemable. The message has gone out, ‘this is what the synod is saying, this is what the Catholic Church is saying,’ and it’s not what we are saying at all.”

The cardinal said the midterm report accurately reflected bishops’ calls to drop “very harsh language that alienates people,” such as cohabitating couples, who act in conflict with church teachings, but he said Cardinal Erdo had not suggested the teachings themselves would change.

“My worry is that the message has gone out — and it’s not a true message — that this synod has taken up these positions, and whatever we say hereafter is going to be as if we’re doing some damage control, which is certainly not what is in my mind,” Cardinal Napier said.

By Elise Harris / Catholic News Agency-EWTN News — While there will not be any quick fixes unveiled at this year’s synod, a fair amount of talk can be expected on the application of the Church’s pastoral practice, predicted Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

“I think one of the things that’s a challenge is that this synod is not going to be offering sound bite solutions. It can’t,” Cardinal Wuerl told CNA Oct. 4.

“We live in a world that loves quick answers, quick fixes, sound bites that take care of having to think through something,” he said, but “that’s not what the church’s message is all about. It’s something much more beautiful than that, and it’s much more all-inclusive and all-enveloping than that.”

Synod meetings, which began this morning with an address by Pope Francis and the synod’s relator, Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdö, are taking place over the next two weeks in Rome.

The Extraordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Family reflects on the theme, “The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization,” the conclusions of which will form the “Instrumentum Laboris,” or working document, for the Ordinary Synod to take place in 2015.

Cardinal Wuerl is one of three U.S. bishops participating in this year’s synod. He is joined by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, who is the current president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Although there will most likely be no immediate changes or decisions coming out of this year’s synod discussions, Cardinal Wuerl explained what can probably be expected is talk regarding “two areas in the life of the church: her teaching and the lived application, the pastoral practice.”

Teaching and pastoral practice, he explained, are “interrelated, but they’re not the same thing. We have to make sure that the teaching is clear, it’s unchanging because it comes to us from God, it comes to us from Jesus.”

“But the effort to live it in all of the human condition today, with all of the challenges and all of the things we have to face today, that’s the pastoral practice, that’s the application,” he observed. “I think we’re going to see a lot of discussion around that.”

Questions that arise will most likely include what to do in situations of dysfunctional families or broken marriages in which a remarried person is attempting to live their faith as best as possible, as well as questions surrounding mercy, the cardinal noted.

“That’s going to be the challenge. Trying to put all of that together in a way that is faithful to the teaching, faithful to the practice, and yet open to the spirit.”

Having the voices of so many from different states in life, including both consecrated and married persons, he said, is “a great opportunity for the Church to present all over again to the world the beautiful vision of marriage, the beautiful vision of family that is a part of God’s revelation.”

Cardinal Wuerl said during the free discussions he will emphasize how the church has “been at this for 2,000 years: proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ revelation of his Father.”

“What a beautiful story. God loves us, God brought into being all that is, created us, there’s a plan in life, he wants us to be happy, he wants us to be with him, and God will make the journey with us through life.”

And the family is one of the most concrete ways we experience God in our lives, he observed, noting how “the family is that wonderful expression of communion, of community, of people coming together.”

“But they come together out of a bond that is rooted in the marriage of the mother and father, and the generation of these children. It’s a beautiful story,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Wuerl explained that after doing a two-year evaluation of his diocese in Washington, the local church had many of the same concerns that will be raised during the synod, including how to help young people understand church teaching regarding marriage and family life.

“How do we help young people understand that human sexuality is a great and beautiful gift, it’s not just for casual entertainment? How you help people understand that a marriage and children should be the norm for how we carry out our life, even when we don’t live up to the norm?”

“I think that’s all going to be part of it… how do we help people, all of us, live as best we can that Gospel of Christ embraced by the mercy of God?”

The cardinal also said Pope Francis might pay a visit to the diocese of Washington next fall if he comes for the World Meeting of Families, set to take place in Philadelphia.

“I have invited him on a number of occasions now to include Washington in his visit, and I’m regularly told ‘we’ll see,’” he explained. “I’m hearing a little bit more now from voices in the Holy See saying ‘well that could be a very real possibility.’ It would be a great blessing.”

“A visit to Washington in a way is a visit to the country because it’s not only the center of the government of the United States, but so much of the Church is centered there,” Cardinal Wuerl pointed out.

“So it’s a natural, at least I keep telling him that. And I think it would be a great joy for the whole country if he visited the nation’s capital.”

By Catholic News Service — Father Benedict J. Groeschel, who was a founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a leading pro-life figure and popular author, retreat master and preacher, died Oct. 3 at St. Joseph’s Home for the elderly in Totowa after a long illness. He was 81.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Father Benedict. He was an example to us all,” said Father John Paul Ouellette, who is also a Franciscan friar and the order’s community servant.

CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz Father Benedict J. Groeschel, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and a leading pro-life figure, is pictured in a 2008 photo. He died Oct. 3 at age 81 after a long illness.

“His fidelity and service to the church and commitment to our Franciscan way of life will have a tremendous impact for generations to come,” he said in a statement released Oct. 4 by the order’s community office in the Bronx, New York.

A wake was planned for Oct. 8 at St. Adalbert’s Church in the Bronx, with a wake to be held Oct. 9, followed by an evening vigil, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated for Father Groeschel Oct. 10 at Newark’s cathedral basilica, followed by burial at Most Blessed Sacrament Friary in Newark. The burial will be private.

“The Catholic Church and the Franciscan family lost a giant today,” said an Oct. 3 statement issued by Father Groeschel’s community.

The community of friars felt “mixed emotions,” it said. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Father Benedict but also relieved that God has set him free from the physical and mental suffering he has experienced over the past decade.”

“Father Benedict was a brother and a father to everyone he encountered. In a world often overwhelmed with darkness, he was a man filled with hope, a hope that he shared with both the rich and poor alike,” the statement said. “His love for others and deep desire to serve, sent him among poor families who were in need of assistance, young people trying to find their way, bishops faced with challenging decisions, priests and religious in need of an encouraging word, and the stranger who was far from God.

“Father Benedict was at home in every circumstance and every encounter.”

Over the past decade, despite his decline in health, Father Groeschel “continued to serve the church generously and with great fidelity,” according to his community.

In January 2004, Father Groeschel hovered near death after a car hit him in Orlando, Florida. After a yearlong recovery, he had to walk with a cane and experienced weakness in one of his arms. But he was able to resume his schedule.

In 2012, following a minor stroke and other health complications, he officially retired from public life and was welcomed by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Totowa. Daily visits of family and friends were the highlight of his days along with spending time in the chapel, concelebrating Mass and making his daily Holy Hour.

Father Groeschel had published a number of books on spirituality and pastoral counseling and founded the Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for clergy. He taught at Fordham University, Iona College and Maryknoll Seminary.

At the time of his death, he was writing a memoir to be published by Our Sunday Visitor called “The Life of a Struggling Soul. He also wrote numerous articles for various periodicals including First Things and Priest Magazine.

In the 1970s, he headed the Office of Spiritual Development in the Archdiocese of New York. For more than 30 years he was a regular on various programs on the Eternal World Television Network. He was host of EWTN’s “Sunday Night Prime” television for many years.

His outreach to the poor was legendary — for decades he distributed food to hundreds of needy people in the South Bronx. His first assignment as a priest was as Catholic chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a residential facility for troubled children. After being there 14 years, he became founding director of Trinity Retreat in Larchmont, New York, a retreat house primarily for Catholic clergy and religious. He was there for 40 years.

He also was the founder of St. Francis House in Brooklyn, New York, for older adolescents. In 1985, he and Chris Bell founded Good Counsel Homes for young pregnant women in need.

Born Robert Peter Groeschel July 23, 1933, in Jersey City, New Jersey, he was the eldest of six children. He graduated from high school in 1951 and 10 days later entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Joseph in Huntington, Indiana.

The following year, he professed temporary vows and took the name Benedict Joseph, after the Franciscan saint, St. Benedict Joseph Labre.

He professed his final vows in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1959. He received a master’s degree in counseling from Iona College in 1964 and a doctorate in education, with a specialty in psychology, from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1971.

During his early years as a priest, he was invited to conduct a retreat for the Missionaries of Charity in India, which was the beginning of Father Groeschel’s long relationship with that community and his deep friendship with its founder, Blessed Teresa of Kolkata.

In 1987, Father Groeschel and seven other friars left the Capuchins to form a new religious community, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in the South Bronx and dedicated to serving the poor. The community now numbers 115 members. A similar community for women, the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, also was formed; it currently has 35 members.

Father Groeschel is survived by two sisters, Marjule Drury of Caldwell, New Jersey, and Robin Groeschel of Glendive, Montana, and one brother, Garry Groeschel of St. Petersburg, Florida, and nine nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brothers Ned and Mark.

Catholic News Association/EWTN News — The Holy See has rejected the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child’s call for changes to canon law, and has formally criticized the group for a “grave misunderstanding” of the Holy See’s sovereignty.

In a response released Sept. 26, the Holy See delivered its comments on the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of Child.

In January, the committee had discussed the written report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child submitted by the Holy See as one of the states that had signed the convention.

After a hearing held Jan. 16, the UN committee issued a report to which the Holy See responded in its Sept. 26 statement. The Holy See maintained that its treaty obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child apply to Vatican City State and that its obligations do not touch on its relation with dioceses and religious orders throughout the world.

“The Holy See, in accordance with the rules of international law, is aware that attempting to implement the CRC in the territory of other states could constitute a violation of the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of States,” the response read.

The response also underscored that “the Holy See does not ratify a treaty on behalf of every Catholic in the world, and therefore, does not have obligations to implement the convention within the territories of other states parties on behalf of Catholics.”

The Holy See also criticized the fact that “the treaty body has plunged into canon law, which is a juridical system, however, not equivalent to that of States.”

The committee’s observations were published Feb. 7 and seemed meant to pressure the church to change its teaching on human sexuality.

For instance, the committee wrote with “regret that the Holy See continues to place emphasis on the promotion of complementarity and equality in dignity” of men and women; asked “the Holy See to review its position on abortion ... identifying circumstances under which access to abortion services can be permitted”; urged the Holy See to “remove gender stereotypes from Catholic school textbooks ... which may limit the development of the talents and abilities of boys and girls and undermine their educational and life opportunities.”

The committee also expressed “concern about the Holy See’s past statements and declarations on homosexuality which contribute to the social stigmatization of and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adolescents and children raised by same sex couples.”

The Holy See said that all of these pressures are beyond the text of the convention, and noted that it is “concerned about a lack of respect for the text of a treaty, which has been carefully drafted by States Parties, including the Holy See itself.”

According to the Holy See, the committee has put into action “a clear and open violation” of the ordinary meaning of the terms of the convention when the concluding observations “advocate for abortion.”

The response also addressed the committee’s promotion of “diverse forms of family” as a matter of principle, while “this expression is not found in the Convention nor it is defined.”

Nor is the word “gender” contained in the text of the convention, and it is “apparently employed to incorporate a larger ideological platform,” the Holy See noted.

The Holy See finally underscored that many of the recommendations “may also be viewed through the prism of religious freedom, in particular regard to the autonomy of religious communities to express their doctrine, manifest their faith and worship.”

The response delivered Sept. 26 insisted that the understanding and documentation provided by the Holy See had been biased by the committee, and that the “concluding observations include inaccurate statements that have no evidentiary foundation,” while “many materials presented by the Holy See, especially regarding child protection, were dismissed and ignored.”

Seventy-four pilgrims, two buses and a land rich in the story of the mercy of Jesus Christ. If the New Evangelization is about our encounter with the Risen Lord and our subsequent commission to share the Good News of Our Lord’s dying and rising with all we meet, then our pilgrimage to Poland and the Czech Republic formed us in the best of ways to be Christ-bearers to our world, so in need of the Lord’s mercy. Read more >>

Today marks the 125th anniversary of the formation of the Diocese of Duluth, and a year-long observance begins this weekend with the Diocesan Assembly Oct. 4 and a special Mass celebrated by Bishop Sirba at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. There is still time to get in on these events!

Fall is heating up with events in the Diocese of Duluth, with the Diocesan Assembly, two events sponsored by the Office of Marriage and Family Life and a Mass to mark the beginning of the diocese’s 125th anniversary celebration all coming in October.

The Diocesan Assembly will be held Oct. 4 at Marshall School, featuring speaker Thomas Smith, and a mini-retreat for newly married couples will be held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary Sunday, Oct. 5. That same Sunday at the Cathedral, Bishop Paul Sirba will celebrate a Mass to mark the diocese’s 125th anniversary at 4 p.m.

While early registration deadlines have passed for both the Diocesan Assembly and the mini-retreat for newly married couples, it is still possible to register. See the diocesan website for details.

Also, on Oct. 19, the diocese will host an anniversary Mass and luncheon for couples celebrating marriage milestones of 10, 20, 25, 30 and 40 ... years of marriage. Early registration is Oct. 6, and lunch reservations close Oct. 13, but the event may fill before then.

Catholic News Agency/EWTN News — Thousands of Catholics across Oklahoma responded to a sparsely attended black mass in Oklahoma City with prayers, eucharistic processions and demonstrations, as the city’s archbishop emphasized God’s love and mercy.

“We are gathered as witnesses to hope at a time when darkness seems to be gaining ground both here and around the world,” Archbishop Paul Coakley said in a homily for a Holy Hour at Oklahoma City’s St. Francis of Assisi parish on the afternoon of Sept. 21 attended by more than 2,000.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City carries the Eucharist in procession Sept. 21 to counter a black mass held at the city’s civic music hall. Credit: Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

“We know that Christ is victorious! He has conquered Satan. He has destroyed the reign of sin and the power of death through his holy cross and glorious resurrection.”

Archbishop Coakley said the black mass is a “blasphemous and sacrilegious ritual,” “a mockery of the Catholic Mass,” and that it requires “the corruption and desecration of the Eucharist” because “Satanists, and their master, know who is present.”

“They acknowledge the Real Presence of the Lord Jesus, not to adore him, but only to mock and to scorn in hatred.”

“We are not here, however, to protest,” he added. “Let us put aside, for the moment, our outrage. We are here to praise and to adore. We are here to give thanks for the gift of our faith and the priceless treasure of the Lord’s abiding presence with us in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.”

Archbishop Coakley said that Catholics gather before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament “to listen to his holy Word and open ourselves to the promptings of his Spirit so that we might become more faithful and authentic witnesses of his love and mercy in the midst of our broken and suffering human family.”

He and many other Catholics took part in a eucharistic procession following the Holy Hour.

Just two miles away and a few hours later, thousands of Catholics and other citizens stood outside the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall to protest the black mass. Some held crucifixes, while others held statues of the Virgin Mary. Many held pre-printed signs saying “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church”; some protesters had taken buses from Kansas.

“[It is] shocking to think that they worship the devil instead of God,” protester Estefani Martinez told the Oklahoma City television station News 9.

In Tulsa, Bishop Edward Slattery led a eucharistic procession, as well as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at Holy Family Cathedral in reparation for blasphemy.

“We’re doing this to strengthen the faith of our people, and to give them an opportunity to react in a very positive way to the announcement of the black mass,” Bishop Slattery told the Tulsa World.

“This is a way of exercising their faith and an opportunity to pray together in a reaction to what is really a curse and blasphemous because we believe the Blessed Sacrament is God himself.”

The bishop said that black mass organizers “embrace evil and anger and revenge” while Catholics preach “God loving humanity. Forgiveness, love, mercy and peace.”

“We counteract hate by forgiveness, by love and by showing what is beautiful.”

Michael Ortega, who attended the Tulsa event, told the Tulsa World he came “because of the love and support of my church, and the love and devotion that I have for our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The occult group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu had scheduled a black mass at the city-run music hall. A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Mass, involving the desecration of the Eucharist, generally by stealing a consecrated host from a parish and using it in a profane, sexual ritual.

Adam Daniels, who organized the event, had claimed to have in his possession a consecrated host mailed to him by a friend. However, on Aug. 21 his attorney gave the reputed host to a priest of the Oklahoma City archdiocese after a facing a lawsuit that charged the host was stolen property.

The lawyer whose California firm filed the lawsuit said that the return of the host “gutted” the intended event and that the approach can limit similar publicized black masses in the future.

The tickets for the black mass, which cost $15 each, had sold out.

However, only about 40 people attended the black mass itself, though the theater in which it was held has capacity for about 100 persons.

The event began at 7 p.m. with a three-member music band. Daniels came on stage dressed in a black and red robe to talk about the ritual. He said its purpose was to destroy fear of the church by mocking the items it uses, News 9 reports.

Some demonstrators outside the civic hall supported the black mass, saying it expressed freedom of religion.

By Joyce Duriga / Catholic News Service — The Archdiocese of Chicago now knows who will succeed Cardinal Francis E. George. Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Washington, as the ninth archbishop of Chicago.

The appointment was announced Sept. 20 in Washington by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Cupich, 65, will be installed in Chicago Nov. 18 during a Mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich addresses the media during a news conference Sept. 20 at the Quigley Center in Chicago. Pope Francis named the prelate, head of the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, since 2010, to succeed Cardinal Francis E. George as head of th e Chicago Archdiocese. He will installed Nov. 18 at Holy Name Cathedral. CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World

Cardinal George is 77, two years past the age when bishops are required by canon law to turn in their resignation to the pope. He retains the office of archbishop until his successor’s installation.

The cardinal was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006 and had a recurrence of cancer in 2012. In August, the archdiocese announced that he was participating in a clinical research trial for a new cancer drug.

His health concerns stepped up the process of searching for his successor as archbishop of Chicago.

Cardinal George introduced Archbishop Cupich (pronounced “Soo-pich”) during a news conference held at the Archbishop Quigley Pastoral Center in Chicago the day the appointment was announced.

“Bishop Cupich is well prepared for his new responsibilities and brings to them a deep faith, a quick intelligence, personal commitment and varied pastoral experiences,” Cardinal George said.

The new archbishop is no stranger to Chicago, having served on the board of Catholic Extension since 2009. The Chicago-based organization supports the work and ministries of U.S. mission dioceses.

Archbishop Cupich said his appointment “humbles and encourages” him and his priority as the new archbishop is to be attentive to the way God is working through the people in the archdiocese.

He learned of the appointment 10 days before the announcement and said he felt overwhelmed and surprised when Archbishop Vigano called him.

Some in the media describe Archbishop Cupich as a moderate but when asked about the description, he said, “Labels are hard for anybody to live up to, one way or another. I just try to be myself and I try to learn from great people. You’ve had great people here in this archdiocese pastor you. And I’m following a great man.”

When asked if his appointment — the first major appointment made by Pope Francis in the United States — sends a message about the pontiff’s agenda, Archbishop Cupich said no.

“I think the Holy Father is a pastoral man. I think that his priority is to send a bishop, not a message,” he said.

That Archbishop Cupich’s new flock is a lot larger than his present flock is not lost on him.

“This is an enormous upgrade, so to speak,” Archbishop Cupich told the media. “We had a hundred thousand Catholics in eastern Washington and I had 27,000 Catholics in South Dakota.” There are 2.2 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago, which is the third largest archdiocese in the nation.

When pressed on what tone he will bring to the archdiocese, the new archbishop said: “I think it’s really important to keep in mind that it’s not my church, it’s Christ’s church. I have to be attentive to his voice in the lives of the people and the word of God and the way that he communicates to all of us through the pointers that he gives.”

In an interview with the Catholic New World following the new conference, Archbishop Cupich thanked Catholics in archdiocese for their warm welcome and said he looks forward to visiting parishes and communities.

“I really am sincere in saying I know that I can only do this if I have their support and prayers. I want to be very pronounced in asking, begging for their prayers,” he told the archdiocesan newspaper.

Archbishop Cupich did his doctoral work on Scripture readings used in the liturgy and that remains a part of his spiritual nourishment, he said.

“I find that, not just the word of God in the Bible, but the convergence of how the texts are put together in the liturgy is a source of my own spiritual life.”

Born March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, he is one of nine children and the grandson of Croatian immigrants. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1975. He was named bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998. In 2010, he was appointed to Spokane. He speaks Spanish and lives at the seminary there.

He has degrees from what is now the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and The Catholic University of America in Washington.

He served as secretary at the apostolic nunciature in Washington and was pastor of two parishes in Omaha. On the national level, he currently chairs the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe and is former chair of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People.

Following Archbishop Cupich’s remarks at the Sept. 20 news conference, Cardinal Francis George told the media he is grateful to Pope Francis for accepting his resignation and is relieved.

“I’ve been a bishop for many years and before that I was a religious superior. And in a sense, in those jobs, as you can imagine, you are hostage to what hundreds, even thousands of people do over which you have no control,” he said. Every morning he would check the news to find out what happened that he was accountable for. “I have to confess, it will be a relief not to read the paper with that vision in mind but just to get information.”

When reminded that he has frequently said it was his goal to retire and meet his successor, something not accomplished by any other archbishop of Chicago since all died in office, Cardinal George pumped his fist in the air and smiled.

He said the appointment is also a relief to him because of his health problems.

“Others who have retired I’ve asked them how it went and they’ve said, ‘Well, it’s strange. One moment you’re at the center of everything and the next moment you’re not.’ You have to adjust to that,” he said.

Cardinal George is the first native Chicagoan to serve as archbishop of Chicago. Born in 1937, he attended Catholic schools in Illinois before entering the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1957. He was ordained a priest Dec. 21, 1963. He was his order’s vicar general in Rome from 1974 to 1986.

He was bishop of Yakima, Washington, from 1990 to 1996 and archbishop of Portland in Oregon for less than a year before being Pope John Paul II named him archbishop of Chicago in 1997.

He was made a cardinal Jan. 18, 1998; and until he turns 80, he remains eligible to vote as a member of the College of Cardinals. He was president of the U.S. bishops’ conference from 2007 to 2010.

Duriga is editor of the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Chicago Archdiocese.