"I Stand with the Sisters/Vatican Declares Year of Assault"

http://istandwiththesisters.org/vatican-declares-year-of-assault/

By John C. Sivalon, M.M.
(Note: The author of this incisive analysis is a former Maryknoll superior general who now teaches theology at the University of Scranton. It “connects the dots” between the recent Vatican censure of the LCWR and the retrenchment from Vatican II.)
"Under the guise of a “Year of Faith,” the Vatican has launched an all-out assault on any theology or interpretation of Vatican II based on what it calls a “Hermeneutic (Interpretation) of Rupture.” This theological assault is articulated in the document known as “Porta Fidei” written by Benedict XVI and further specified in a document titled “Note on Recommendations for the Implementation of the Year of Faith” which was developed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Both of these documents are cited by Cardinal Levada in his statement on the doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). The rationale for that assessment and other punitive moves that have been made in recent months (Caritas International, educational institutes, and the Girl Scouts) must be understood in the broader context of this special “year of assault.”
The real crux of the issue according to the “Note” is a “correct understanding” of Vatican II over against “erroneous interpretations.” Benedict likes to refer to these interpretations as being based on a “hermeneutic of discontinuity” while referring to his own interpretation as being based on a “hermeneutic of renewal.” In truth, better labels for these respectively, are a “hermeneutic of mission” over against Benedict’s “hermeneutic of retrenchment.”
The hermeneutic of mission sees in the documents of Vatican II an attempt by the Church to rediscover in its past the kernels of fresh understandings and ecclesial structures that respond more authentically and relevantly to what the Council called the modern world. This hermeneutic sees the Council Fathers confirming tradition as a foundation upon which faith can continually build and grow as its context changes. It also sees God as continually present in history and culture, graciously offering new perceptions for understanding and interpreting the fullness of revelation.
The hermeneutic of retrenchment, on the other hand, sees in the documents of Vatican II the restatement of ossified doctrines in language that can be understood by the modern world. The hermeneutic of retrenchment regards tradition as a wall which functions to deter erroneous understandings. It also tends to see the modern context of the world negatively, often assigning to it labels such as secularism, relativism or pluralism. As Benedict says, “whereas in the past it was possible to recognize a unitary cultural matrix, broadly accepted in its appeal to the content of the faith and the values inspired by it, today this no longer seems to be the case in large swathes of society, . .” The hermeneutic of retrenchment, hence, longs for the past; for an idealized age of Christendom.
Thus, the action against LCWR and the other actions against loyal voices of faithful Christians open to discerning God’s wisdom in modern culture, should be seen as initial forays of shock and awe to soften the strongest areas of resistance, before the actual onslaught begins. That major assault is scheduled for October of 2012, with the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the “New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” The first working paper (Lineamenta) for this synod clearly sets forth the target of “New Evangelization.”
The target is plainly modern culture. According to the document the modern world is epitomized by a culture of relativism, which it says has even seeped into Christian life and ecclesial communities. The authors claim that its serious “anthropological implications are a questioning of basic human experiences for example the relation between a man and a woman as well as the meaning of reproduction and death itself.” Associated with this phenomenon, the document states, is the tremendous mixing of cultures resulting in “forms of corruption, the erosion of the fundamental references to life, the undermining of the values for which we exert ourselves and the deterioration of the very human ties we use to identify ourselves and give meaning to our lives.” Benedict in other places has labeled this pluralism; thus completing his trilogy of the demonic: secularism, relativism and pluralism, as he dreams of a reestablished, romanticized culture of Medieval Europe.
In stark contrast, the institutes of women religious dramatically exemplify the hermeneutic of mission: they moved out of “habits” that set them apart from the world; face the challenges of embracing the presence of God in modern culture; and faithfully struggle with being an authentic and clear sign of God’s love for the world. The assessment against them is outrageous for its patronizing arrogance and its patriarchy. But it is also clear that it is about much more: the dramatic fissure within the Roman Catholic church concerning the interpretation of Vatican II and the embracing (or failure to embrace) God’s presence in modern culture.
In this assault what is so pernicious, besides the effects on the lives of those immediately and dramatically targeted, is the appropriation of concepts developed by those operating out of a hermeneutic of mission by those who uphold a hermeneutic of retrenchment, who then redefine and use those concepts to defend and support their assault. Three quick examples of this are found in the Statement of Cardinal Levada on the doctrinal assessment of the LCWR and in the doctrinal assessment itself.
First, Levada claims that the overarching aim of the Assessment is to assist in implementing an “ecclesiology of communion.” The theologians who developed this ecclesiology based their reflections on the Vatican II emphasis on Church as the People of God, Body of Christ or A Pilgrim People. All of these images were employed by Vatican II to broaden the understanding of Church as being more than the hierarchy. None of these paradigms envision unity as fabricated through force or obedience to doctrine. Rather, unity is seen as flowing out of dialogue and common discernment as the People of God struggle together to be faithful and authentic witnesses of self-emptying Love. Who more than these institutes of religious women epitomize communion founded on faith and lived as self-emptying love?
Second, the doctrinal assessment of LCWR defines the sacramental character of the Church almost exclusively as patriarchal hierarchy. Again, the assessment document usurps a Vatican II understanding of Church as sacrament and recasts it. Vatican II on the other hand posits the Church in its entirety as the sacrament of the Reign of God.
Finally, in the post-Vatican II period, many theologians from various parts of the world have developed the image of Church as Prophet. They established this vision on a preferential option for the poor, a belief in salvation as liberation and the need to be critical not just of structures of the world but of the Church itself and its role in support of situations of oppression and human denigration. However the assessment document denies any possibility of prophecy aimed at the Church hierarchy itself or separate from that hierarchy. This abhorrent disregard for the Biblical prophets and their strong stance against the priest, kings and empty rituals of faith somehow is not perceived as a rupture with the past or tradition by those operating out of this hermeneutic of retrenchment.
As modern Catholics celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II, we have entered into a new chapter of church history. The Council that was declared to open the windows is now being reinterpreted as closed shutters, protecting the Church from the gale force winds of a world searching for spiritual authenticity. While said to be a time of renewal, the “Year of Faith” is really dedicated to the idolatry of doctrine, power and hierarchy. The sisters in their communal service to the Church and world, who not only take a vow of poverty but actually live that vow without privilege, status or accumulation of wealth are a vivid and prophetic contrast to the inauthenticity of the call to retrenchment masquerading as renewal."

Action at the Vatican Embassy- Breaking Story, Gathering of Supporters of LCWR

A group of 150+ people, many clad in red for Pentecost, rallied and processed to the Vatican Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC this beastly hot lunch hour. The organizers delivered a petition to the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, asking that the Mandate given to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious be withdrawn.

To the surprise of the crowd, and in a show of the diplomatic finesse, the Nuncio invited two representatives in for a chat. They came out and reported to the gathered that he had spent part of the morning with the LCWR board meeting in Washington, DC. He said that he would deliver their letter to the Vatican without much expectation that it would change things. Then a group of 20 people was invited in to see and pray in the chapel.

See http://solidaritywithsisters.weebly.com/ for pictures and more details forthcoming.

Mary E. Hunt

"Former LCWR Head Gives Take on Vatican Order" /Teresa Kane/ NCR

http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/former-lcwr-head-gives-take-vatican-order

"The Biggest Scandal to Rock the Vatican in Decades Widened Monday with the Pope’s Butler, Arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home, agreeing to Cooperate with Investigators — Raising the Specter that Higher-Ranking Ecclesial Heads May Soon Roll."

Associated Press/ Nicole Winfield

VATICAN CITY

..."Few believe butler Paolo Gabriele worked alone to leak dozens of documents shedding light on power struggles, corruption and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The leaks have tormented the Vatican for months and painted a picture of a church hierarchy in utter disarray.


Gabriele, the pope’s personal butler since 2006, was arrested Wednesday evening after Holy See documents were found inside his Vatican City apartment, adding a Hollywood twist to the already sordid “Vatileaks” scandal. He remains in custody in a Vatican detention facility, accused of theft, and has met with his wife and lawyers.


Gabriele’s lawyer, Carlo Fusco, said Monday his client was “very serene and calm,” despite the whirlwind of speculation surrounding his arrest. He said Gabriele himself had told the Vatican judge investigating the case that he would “respond to all the questions and will collaborate with investigators to ascertain the truth.”


Italian media reported Monday that a cardinal is suspected of playing a major role in the scandal. However, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, denied the reports categorically. He said many Vatican officials were being questioned but insisted “there is no cardinal under suspicion.”


But Lombardi acknowledged that the investigation continues.


And on Monday, Italian daily La Repubblica published a rambling interview with what it described as another Vatican “mole,” someone who described the various agendas at play behind the leaks.


The unnamed leaker said the aim was to show how weak Pope Benedict XVI is, the fears of his secretary of state, and to make clear that the “fundamental role of the church is to defend the Gospel, not accumulate power and money.

Lombardi dismissed as “pure fantasy” such a rash of unsourced reports about the investigation in the Italian media, which have been in a frenzy ever since reports of Gabriele’s detention emerged Friday."


Bridget Mary's Reflection:
Sounds like the Vatican Curia is in free fall. I wonder if Vatican authorities in the Detention Center used any "enhanced means" to help Gabriele, the butler became "serene!"  
Do you believe that there is no cardinal lurking behind the Monsignors Mutiny debacle?
One gets the sense that there is much more to come from the unnamed mole. 
 Hollywood producers, Vati leaks has provided the plot, prepare yourself now  for a possible blockbuster movie next season! Get your cameras rolling!
One could say that the Vatican is the gift that keeps on giving. This has been the case for the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. In June we celebrate our tenth anniversary. In 2002, seven women were ordained, now we have around 130 serving inclusive,diverse, justice-seeking communities in Europe, North and South America. We owe much of our growth to the media coverage that has come from Vatican excommunication and the bishops condemnation. Check out the documentary about our women priests movement produced by Jules Hart, "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican." (amazon.com) 
 It is time to return to the earlier model of the people in the local communities electing their bishops and a process that would involve the people of God in the selection of the pope as a point of unity, not as the big boss of the Catholic Church!  We need a more circular,  participatory and transparent model of governance in the Catholic Church. The Old Boys' Network has messed up big time this time!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com

" No Cardinal Under Suspicion" Pope's Spokesman Claims/ Chaos and Scandal Inside Vatican Curia/ Will Benedict Reform Curia on Keep Corrupt Hierarchy in Vatican?

http://www.moynihanreport.com/. May 28, 2012 -- Lombardi Briefing "No cardinal is under suspicion of being the mastermind behind the "Vatileaks" affair which is rocking Rome, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., the Pope's spokesman, told journalists in the Vatican Press Office shortly after noon today. Nor has the Pope constituted a special team of lay investigators, led by a woman, to look into the case and report back directly to him, Lombardi said. Both rumors were reported this morning in the Italian press. (A headline in one paper said "Cardinals Now Under Suspicion.") Such headlines are simply without any basis in reality, Lomabardi told the assembled journalists. He asked all of the reporters present to show restraint and professionality in reporting this dramatic and developing story. Lombardi then read a declaration from one of the two lawyers representing the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, 46, who is charged with stealing and disseminating secret Vatican documents. The lawyer, Carlo Fusco, said that Gabriele is now cooperating with Vatican investigators, who are questioning him. Fusco said his client is "very serene and calm," despite the whirlwind of speculation surrounding his arrest. And he confirmed that Gabriele has told the Vatican judge investigating the case that he would "respond to all the questions and will collaborate with investigators to ascertain the truth." There has been no information about what Gabriele is telling his questioners. We do not know if he has implicated others in the theft of the documents, or whether he has offered some explanation, or defense, of his actions. All we know for sure is that a large number of very private documents, many evidently from the papal apartments -- including some evidently from the Pope's own desk -- seem to have been photocopied and leaked to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi. Nuzzi's latest book, His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI, appeared only in mid-May. It contains images and transcripts of dozens of authentic documents that paint a picture of chaos and corruption inside the Roma Curia. The Vatican warned of legal action against Nuzzi already in January after he broadcast letters from a top Vatican administrator to the Pope in which the administrator begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euros in higher contract prices. The prelate, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican's ambassador to the United States. Nuzzi is also the author of Vatican SpA, a 2009 volume laying out shady dealings of the Vatican bank based on authentic documents left in the estate of a deceased Vatican official, Monsignor Renato Dardozzi, whose family turned the documents over to Nuzzi after Dardozzi died in 2003. Much of the leaked documentation in the new book concerns issues within Italy: a 2009 scandal over the ex-editor of the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference; a secret dinner between Benedict and Italy's president; and a 2011 letter from Italy's pre-eminent talk show host, Bruno Vespa, to the Pope enclosing a check for (EURO)10,000 for the Pope's charity work – and asking for a private audience with the Pope in exchange. But there are international leaks as well, including diplomatic cables from Vatican embassies from Jerusalem to Cameroon. Some concern the conclusions of the Pope's delegate for the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order in a memo to the Pope last fall, Cardinal Velasio de Paolis. (He warned that the financial situation of the order, beset by a scandal involving its founder, "while not grave, is serious and pressing.") Nuzzi opens his book with a chapter explaining how he obtained the documents. In these pages, it seems clear that he dealt with more than one person. He describes a meeting with two men, then with the two and a third, who may have been Paolo Gabriele. Unless these passages are entirely fabricated, it seems certain that there were at least two others who collaborated with the Pope's butler in delivering these documents. The confusion and doubt caused by these leaks is harmful to the Church's image, of course. But this crisis could conceivably offer Pope Benedict an opportunity: he could use the moment to carry out a thorough house-cleaning. In this sense, the scandal surrounding the leak of these documents could be transformed into an opportunity for Benedict to purify the Church. Handled in this way, the leaks scandal could become the most important moment, the defining moment, of this pontificate."

Irish Priests call for End to Celibacy and for Women's Ordination/ Shaking Up Vatican

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=31216

"Hundreds of Roman Catholic priests have been meeting in Dublin to call for an end to compulsory celibacy for the priesthood, reports SBS.

The meetings, which also call for the ordination of women, constitutes an unprecedented challenge to the Vatican, which traditionalist Catholics say is a betrayal of the church.

But supporters say fundamental reforms must be made in order to tackle the country’s dwindling supply of priests and waning public support.

Their call for change comes as pressure intensifies for Irish Cardinal Sean Brady to resign for failing to report abuse in the church to police. "

Support the Nuns/Pledge at Nun Justice Project

 Add your pledge-- what you did not put into the Sunday collection or what you want to give to show your support-- to women religious. By redirecting our giving we express in concrete terms that women are church! See http://nunjustice.org/pledge/?utm_source=Pentecost+Support+the+Sisters%21+&utm_campaign=Pentecost+pledge+to+support+the+sisters&utm_medium=email

" 'Monsignors Mutiny' Revealed by Vatican Leaks", Vatican Should Reward "Whstleblowers" /Needed Roman Catholic Women Priests, a Renewed Priestly Ministry in a Community of Equals

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/02/14/12/monsignors-mutiny-revealed-vatican-leaks
Reuters
VATICAN CITY - Call it Conspiracy City. Call it Scandal City. Call it Leak City. These days the holy city has been in the news for anything but holy reasons.
"It is a total mess," said one high-ranking Vatican official who spoke, like all others, on the condition of anonymity.
The Machiavellian maneuvering and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a medieval court.
Senior church officials interviewed this month said almost daily embarrassments that have put the Vatican on the defensive could force Pope Benedict to act to clean up the image of its administration - at a time when the church faces a deeper crisis of authority and relevance in the wider world.
Some of those sources said the outcome of a power struggle inside the Holy See may even have a longer-term effect, on the choice of the man to succeed Benedict when he dies.
From leaked letters by an archbishop who was transferred after he blew the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, to a leaked poison pen memo which puts a number of cardinals in a bad light, to new suspicions about its bank, Vatican spokesmen have had their work cut out responding.
The flurry of leaks has come at an embarrassing time - just before a usually joyful ceremony this week known as a consistory, when Benedict will admit more prelates into the College of Cardinals, the exclusive men's club that will one day pick the next Roman Catholic leader from among their own ranks.
"This consistory will be taking place in an atmosphere that is certainly not very glorious or exalting," said one bishop with direct knowledge of Vatican affairs.
The sources agreed that the leaks were part of an internal campaign - a sort of "mutiny of the monsignors" - against the pope's right-hand man, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Bertone, 77, has a reputation as a heavy-handed administrator and power-broker whose style has alienated many in the Curia, the bureaucracy that runs the central administration of the 1.3 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church.
He came to the job, traditionally occupied by a career diplomat, in 2006 with no experience of working in the church's diplomatic corps, which manages its international relations. Benedict chose him, rather, because he had worked under the future pontiff, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office.
"It's all aimed at Bertone," said a monsignor in a key Vatican department who sympathises with the secretary of state and who sees the leakers as determined to oust him. "It's very clear that they want to get rid of Bertone."
Vatican sources say the rebels have the tacit backing of a former secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, an influential power-broker in his own right and a veteran diplomat who served under the late Pope John Paul II for 15 years.
"The diplomatic wing feels that they are the rightful owners of the Vatican," the monsignor who favours Bertone said.
Sodano and Bertone are not mutual admirers, to put it mildly. Neither has commented publicly on the reports.


Whistle-blowing archbishop
The Vatican has been no stranger to controversy in recent years, when uproar over its handling of child sex abuse charges has hampered the church's efforts to stem the erosion of congregations and priestly recruitment in the developed world.
But the latest image crisis could not be closer to home.
It began last month when an Italian television investigative show broadcast private letters to Bertone and the pope from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former deputy governor of the Vatican City and currently the Vatican ambassador in Washington.
The letters, which the Vatican has confirmed are authentic, showed that Vigano was transferred after he exposed what he argued was a web of corruption, nepotism and cronyism linked to the awarding of contracts to contractors at inflated prices.
As deputy governor of the Vatican City for two years from 2009 to 2011, Vigano was the number two official in a department responsible for maintaining the tiny city-state's gardens, buildings, streets, museums and other infrastructure, which are managed separately from the Italian capital which surrounds it.
In one letter, Vigano writes of a smear campaign against him by other Vatican officials who were upset that he had taken drastic steps to clean up the purchasing procedures and begged to stay in the job to finish what he had started.
Bertone responded by removing Vigano from his position three years before the end of his tenure and sending him to the United States, despite his strong resistance.
Other leaks centre on the Vatican bank, just as it is trying to put behind it past scandals - including the collapse 30 years ago of Banco Ambrosiano, which entangled it in lurid allegations about money-laundering, freemasons, mafiosi and the mysterious death of Ambrosiano chairman Roberto Calvi - "God's banker".
Today, the Vatican bank, formally known at the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), is aiming to comply fully with international norms and has applied for the Vatican's inclusion on the European Commission's approved "white list" of states that meet EU standards for total financial transparency.
Bertone was instrumental in putting the bank's current executives in place and any lingering suspicion about it reflects badly on him. The Commission will decide in June and failure to make the list would be an embarrassment for Bertone.
Italian Pope?
Last week, an Italian newspaper that has published some of the leaks ran a bizarre internal Vatican memo that involved one cardinal complaining about another cardinal who spoke about a possible assassination attempt against the pope within 12 months and openly speculated on who the next pope should be.
Bertone's detractors say he has packed the Curia with Italian friends. Some see an attempt to influence the election of the next pope and increase the chances that the papacy returns to Italy after two successive non-Italian popes who have broken what had been an Italian monopoly for over 450 years.
Seven of the 18 new "cardinal electors" -- those aged under 80 eligible to elect a pope -- at this Saturday's consistory are Italian. Six of those work for Bertone in the Curia.
Bertone, as chief administrator, had a key role in advising the pope on the appointments, which raised eyebrows because of the high number of Italian bureaucrats among them.
"There is widespread malaise and delusion about Bertone inside the Curia. It is full of complaints," said the bishop who has close knowledge of Vatican affairs.
"Bertone has had a very brash method of running the Vatican and putting his friends in high places. People could not take it any more and said 'enough' and that is why I think these leaks are coming out now to make him look bad," he said.
Pope 'isolated'
Leaked confidential cables sent to the State Department by the U.S. embassy to the Vatican depicted him as a "yes man" with no diplomatic experience or linguistic skills and the 2009 cable suggests that the pope is protected from bad news.
"There is also the question of who, if anyone, brings dissenting views to the pope's attention," read the cable, published by WikiLeaks.
The Vatican sources said some cardinals asked the pope to replace Bertone because of administrative lapses, including the failure to warn the pope that a renegade bishop re-admitted to the Church in 2009 was a well-known Holocaust denier.
But they said the pope, at 84 and increasingly showing the signs of his age, is not eager to break in a new right-hand man.
"It's so complicated and the pope is so helpless," said the monsignor.
The bishop said: "The pope is very isolated. He lives in his own world and some say the information he receives is filtered. He is interested in his books and his sermons but he is not very interested in government."


Bridget Mary's Reflection
The Vatican is in free fall with the "Monsignors Mutiny", the latest revelations of power struggles and corruption, in the Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict should reward the whistle-blowers in the Vatican. The butler should not be thrown in a Vatican prison, nor should the Archbishop, who told the tale of ecclesiastical mismanagement,  be assigned to the Washington Embassy as a punishment. Who would have thought that the position of Vatican Ambassador to the U.S. was considered a demotion?! Now that is a revelation worth pondering!
This whole sorry mess reads like a Hollywood made movie that is over the edge. Way more scandalous than anything Dan Brown or the Di Vinci Code ever imagined. 
No wonder the institutional church is in so much trouble. No wonder the powerful Cardinals are going after the nuns and anyone else who appears to support women priests, gays and lesbians and contraception.  These are merely distractions to take the heat off their own corruption. Ask yourself, what would Jesus do, if he were in the Vatican today. Take a whip and throw them out?Shut it down?!  
 Catholics must take charge of our church, stop the money trail to the Vatican, ( we cannot support a bank that is being investigated for money laundering, can we?) We need to follow Jesus' example live compassion, do justice and love in the heart of God! We need structural reform now. We must be the change we want to see happen in our church and world now. Roman Catholic Women Priests are part of a spiritual uprising that is shaking up the Old Boys Network in the Vatican. For many Catholics, we are a welcome change that is bringing new hope for a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals! 
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com

Vatican- Why We are Still in the Middle Ages/Vatican Cannot Get Away With Corruption

http://www.secularcafe.org/showthread.php?p=367946#post36794

By Kevin D. Annett

Paolo Gabriele is languishing in a secret church prison tonight in Vatican City after being arrested by church police for having some of the Pope’s private papers in his possession.

"The Pope’s former butler and a father of three children is threatened with thirty years in a papal jail for having uncovered some of Joseph Ratzinger’s dirty secrets.
Paolo might as well not be an Italian citizen, since his civil rights vanished once he crossed the Vatican. The law of the church supersedes that of any nation, it seems, since clearly the Pope can arrest and jail anyone he doesn’t like.
It’s quite abominable. How many corporations get to arrest and put on trial in their own private courts one of their employees who’s found with internal company documents?
How often does the CEO of such a company get to shelter and exonerate child rapists in his firm, hide the crime from the police, and silence those who know about it all?
Does the company itself get to launder money, finance wars, conduct genocide and crimes against humanity, and depose governments, and never answer for these crimes?
The Vatican Incorporated is the one company in the world that can do all this. And what’s more, they even get massive financial subsidies from taxpayers in over a hundred countries to do so!
That said, it’s a sign of the degree of institutional rot and panic erupting in Rome these days that members of the papal inner circle are breaking ranks and squealing on their boss. Paolo’s arrest follows hot on the heels of the forced resignation of the chief of the Vatican Bank, Gotti Tedeschi, who allegedly had blown the whistle on shady transactions by the bank..."
I

Spirit-Filled Music for Worship from Australia/ Happy Pentecost!

Enjoy the beautiful music of  One Voice, featuring Amanda McKenna and other artists from Australia

http://www.asonevoice.com.au/Next-Generation

E: mckenna_amanda42@hotmail.com

Vatican in Chaos after Pope's Butler Arrested for Leaks, Bank President Ousted for Negligence/,Women Priests, Married Priests, Empowered Communities Needed Now to Reform Church

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/vatican-confirms-popes-butler-arrested-in-embarrassing-leaks-whodunit/2012/05/26/gJQAoUNvrU_story.html

"VATICAN CITY — An already sordid scandal over leaked Vatican documents took a Hollywood-like turn Saturday with confirmation that the pope’s own butler had been arrested after documents he had no business having were found in his Vatican City apartment.

The detention of butler Paolo Gabriele, one of the few members of the papal household, capped one of the most convulsive weeks in recent Vatican history and threw the Holy See into chaos as it enters a critical phase in its efforts to show the world it’s serious about complying with international norms on financial transparency. The tumult began with the publication last weekend of a book of leaked Vatican documents detailing power struggles, political intrigue and corruption in the highest levels of Catholic Church governance. It peaked with the inglorious ouster on Thursday of the president of the Vatican bank. And it concluded with confirmation Saturday that Pope Benedict XVI’s own butler was the alleged mole feeding documents to Italian journalists in an apparent bid to discredit the pontiff’s No. 2.

“If you wrote this in fiction you wouldn’t believe it,” said Carl Anderson, a member of the board of the Vatican bank which contributed to the tumult with its no-confidence vote in its president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. “No editor would let you put it in a novel.”

Bridget Mary's Reflection:

 This sordid story of  corruption and scandal has repeated itself  throughout the history of the Vatican. They would be triple X rated by today's standards. Under the white hot scrutiny of worldwide internet media coverage and thanks to the Vatican Leaks, millions know the story that is rocking the Catholic Church today. Isn't it unbelievable and evidence of a sick institution, that the Vatican is investigating the nuns? (for their support of women's ordination, gays and lesbians and birth control, which the majority of Catholics support.)

More than ever, Catholics need to wake up and take responsibility for our church, which by definition is the people of God. What options should be on the table when the Vatican is in free fall? The answer is obvious.  Reform and renewal that encompasses structural change is the only way forward. Yes, and as I have said a number of times, this must include women taking their rightful places in decision making positions as equals in an open, accountable, transparent Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered community.  It also means that the Catholic Church should follow Jesus' example of Gospel equality and reclaim our earlier tradition of married priests, and women priests as an issue of justice and prophetic obedience to the Spirit. Church leaders should be chosen by their local communities. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday,  Now more than ever, the Catholic Church needs to affirm the gifts and ministries that the Spirit has given to all the baptized! Come, Holy Spirit,  renew our beloved faith Church with a new outpouring of your gifts!

Memo Explaining why Vatican Bank Head was Fired by John L Allen Jr/Money Laundering and Intrigue at Vatican Bank, Need for Reform and Women's Leadership

http://media2.corriere.it/corriere/pdf/2012/Memorandum-IOR260512.pdf



..."When Gotti Tedeschi was named president of the Institute for the Works of Religion in 2009, he was widely touted as a reformer, the captain of internal financial reforms desired by Pope Benedict XVI. In the years since, however, complaints have repeatedly circulated that Gotti Tedeschi acted as a sort of absentee landlord, taking greater interest in his work with Italian banks and his own speaking and writing rather than his Vatican commitments.
Sources also described personal tensions between Gotti Tedeschi and the staff of the Vatican Bank, especially its director, layman Paolo Cipriani. Both men were placed under investigation by Italian authorities in 2010 for alleged violations of anti-money laundering protocols related to two transactions, though neither was charged with any crime.


Bridget Mary's Reflection:  Where is the accountability to the Catholic community? Catholics in the pews should know that the Vatican Bank is under investigation for money laundering! This is our church and it sounds like the Mafia!


Today, another Italian paper, La Stampa, carried an interview with Anderson in which he denies that Gotti Tedeschi’s removal marks any retreat from a policy of transparency and good money management.
“We confirm our decisive commitment to transparency, which isn’t under discussion,” Anderson said. “But it requires good relations among the leaders of the bank. If there was a lack of transparency, it’s precisely what Gotti Tedeschi demonstrated regarding the board and the management of the institute.”
Among other things, Anderson said, Gotti Tedeschi “failed to perform his basic responsibilities, to inform himself about what the board was doing, and to participate in meetings.”
Anderson also denied that the move against Gotti Tedeschi was related to the arrest of a papal servant in the “Vatican leaks” scandal, or that it was the result of any pressure from higher levels of the Vatican.


Bridget Mary's Reflection: What role do the Knights of Columbus play in the Vatican Bank? What does Vatican Leaks reveal about the Vatican Bank?

“There was no pressure, and if there had been, we would have resisted it,” he said.

Also today, veteran Italian commentator Marco Tossati described the sacking of Gotti Tedeschi as the “first lay coup” in the history of the Vatican Bank. The four-member supervisory council, Tosatti wrote, effectively pulled the rug out from under the Vatican’s powerful Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who would have been inclined to find a compromise solution."


Bridget Mary's Reflection: How about bringing in the nuns to clean up the Vatican Bank fiasco?, I bet the U.S. LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious  could  partner with the global Sisterhood to provide a solid plan for reform and renewal that would focus on transparency and accountability?  Cardinal Bertone would have no more worries. The nuns could do wonders to restore the trust of Catholics in the pews!

Vati-Leaks Links

Website:

Vati Leaks - Keeping the public updated on Church affairs while reinstating suppressed ancient knowledge

Individual subtitles:

Why aren’t people told about this? (May 24, 2012)

‘Catholic Church is not for respectable people’

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Vulgate Bible exposed as a papal invention

NEWSFLASH … Centuries-old records leaked

Nostradamus and the murder of Pope John Paul I

Rotten bloody priests!

Fake Catholic literature … Part 3

What is a fate worse than death?

Pope ordered false Gospels to be written

Who could possibly make this up?

Fake Catholic literature … Part 2

The storm caused by 'Vatileaks'

Nun faces 87 charges of sex abuse

Explosive allegations in secret Catholic files

Wild women Jesuits

Fake Catholic literature (Part 1)

The Christ Scandal

The Pope's Fatima fraud

Vatican sex crimes summit revelations

Seminary secrets

'Extermination Decrees' issued by the Vatican

Why does God keep changing his word?

Shock new revelations about Mother Teresa

Vatican rocked by new police raids on Belgium Church

The top under-reported news story of 2011

When four popes shared the chair of St. Peter

No Christian cross on St. Peter’s original plans

The Pope who forged Christian records

The crucifixion of women

Satanism in the Vatican

Pope John Paul II’s pornography collection

Pope not welcome in Ireland

The papal ‘death watch’

Dublin Archbishop says Vatican cabal protects clerical abusers in Cloyne

Catholic Church wholly owns German pornographic publishing house

The Vatican's macabre library

Why the Vatican Held a Conference on Extra-terrestrial Life

Leaked Vatican Documents implicate Pope John Paul II

The Pope’s new olive tree

A Cardinal’s secret testimony exposes a revelation about Gospel origins

U.S. Bishop Is Charged With Failing to Report Abuse.

‘Horrific’ new paedophile report due soon

An extraordinary new manuscript now available

Stunning new revelations about Gospel origins

Vatican media reports

Pope may resign soon, says Italian media

International Criminal Court - The Hague

International Criminal Court - The Hague

Pope Benedict XVI ‘Hopeless’

Vati Leaks - Keeping the public updated on Church affairs while 

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Catholic Cardinal (Dolan) Says Church Is Willing to Let Poor People Starve Rather than Give in to Contraception Mandate/ Jesus Would Weep at Threat to Abandon Poor and Most Catholics Will be Appalled!!

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/05/23/cardinal/

"Cardinal Timothy Dolan has made it very clear that he doesn’t like President Obama’s contraception mandate. And apparently, he and the Catholic Church are prepared to let poor people starve to death if President Obama doesn’t give in to their demands.

In an appearance on Martin Bashir on MSNBC on Tuesday, Dolan said that the Church would abandon Jesus’ effort to help the sick and feed the poor in protest of the contraception mandate that only applies to insurance companies and not the Church itself.

'If these mandates kick in, we’re going to find ourselves faced with a terribly difficult decision as to whether or not we can continue to operate,” Dolan said. “As part of our religion — it’s part of our faith that we feed the hungry, that we educate the kids, that we take care of the sick. We’d have to give it up, because we’re unable to fit the description and the definition of a church given by — guess who — the federal government.'”

Bridget Mary's Reflection:

Cardinal Dolan, Jesus would weep at your callous threat. It appears that you are willing to abandon the central mission of compassion for the poor at the heart of the Gospel in order to get your way on the birth control mandate.  Most Catholics will be appalled at this political ploy!

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

www.arcwp.org

"My Second Encounter with Bill Lynn" by Eileen McCafferty DiFranco/Philadelphia Archdiocese Sexual Abuse Trial

Ten years ago, I was a member of a support group for one of the survivors mentioned in the 2005 Grand jury report. Our group had invited Lynn to a meeting to explain to all of us how Nicholas Cudemo could remain a priest when the archdiocese knew he had sexually abused a long list of adolescent girls on a regular basis.

I decided that I would take a personal day today and see how Bill was making out now that lawyers rather than private citizens were asking him how men who committed horrific crimes against children could remain in ministry as priests in good standing under his watch. 


I arrived early and just spent some time looking around the courtroom.The lawyers were up front busily preparing for the day. A large group of mostly women came into court. I heard that they were Lynn's family. There were perhaps 10 observers and many media people. For those of you in Philadelphia, I saw local reporters Vernon Odom, Pat Sirococi, and Terry Ruggles. I was told that there were people from the national news and I later saw one of the women on the CBS national news.

There was a large man sitting in front of me. When three priests walked in and sat in front of him, he patted one of them on the back. An elderly man asked if I were a sister. That was a first for me. I didn’t want to tell him what I really was and upset him. ( I’m a Roman Catholic Womanpriest.)

The trial began with a court attendant announcing, “Cease all conversation.” A young female defense lawyer interrogated Lynn's secretary and tried to get the court to hear how "frustrated" Lynn was with this job of Secretary of the Clergy. That was stricken from the record. She labeled Lynn a "workaholic" who worked at the AD office all week and then said mass and heard confessions on the weekend. He took really good notes, she said.

When the defense called Lynn to come to the stand, people rather gasped. One of the reporters told me that I had picked the right day to attend. Lynn stated his credentials; ordained in 1976, assigned to only two parishes before he zipped right up the clerical ladder to become the Dean of Men Students at St. Charles Seminary. in 1984, a mere eight years after ordination, well before the age of forty. I had to chuckle about the men part. Were there any females at the seminary except for the cleaning staff and the librarian? As dean, he arranged activities and schedules. One must wonder if he knew anything about the seminary swimming pool, but I'll get to that later. In 1991 he became the Vicar of Administration, reporting to Msgr. Molloy, now deceased, and Bishop Cullen. There he did quite a bit of paperwork, innocuous, he made it seem, as the paper made its way past his desk, to Molloy, then Cullen and Bevilaqua. I had this vision of never ending piles of paper making their way up and down the stairs and into secret archives and mysterious safes which held secrets that Lynn et al didn’t want to share.

Lynn said that the first time he was involved in an abuse case, he traveled with Molloy to Exton, a high end suburb located a substantial distance from the seminary. A boy made an allegation of inappropriate touch against a priest, whose name I didn't catch. The priest made the boy undress before him. In one case, he took the boy to the pool at the seminary, had the kid take off his trunks and wrap a towel around himself. Then the priest pushed the kid into the pool while holding on to the towel while the kid fell naked into the pool.

Now, most of our suburbs in the Delaware Valley have numerous swim clubs and most parents in these same suburbs can afford to belong. So, one wonders why the priest took the kid all the way ( As I said, Exton is pretty far from the seminary) to the seminary to swim. One must wonder how many other boys were taken to swim at the seminary by priests and one wonders who was in charge of monitoring pool use.

The Lynn became Secretary of the Clergy after Bevilaqua changed the configuration of the office. His duties as secretary were impressive: he was a pastor to the priests, ( I thought the bishop did that.), he assessed priestly needs, settled living disputes, monitored admittance to the seminary, handled the retirement of priests, and handled sex abuse cases. Having even one of these jobs would be daunting, especially when he still exercised his ministry on the weekends. He looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy and sounded like Superman.

After lunch, I headed back to hear Bill Lynn raked over the coals by the DA. “Did you,” the DA asked, “Ever hear the scripture verse about hanging a millstone around the neck of one who harms children?” Lynn said he did. “Did you put the needs of priests above the needs of children?” (Get ready to run for the hills, kids) Lynn said no. “Did you ever lie to people?” “No,” Lynn said, who hesitated and then added, maybe once to Mark Berkowitz.

Well, Lynn told a big fat lie earlier in the day when he testified that a pastor named Joseph Graham was part of an aftercare treatment plan for a Father Avery, who was coming out of a nine month hospital stay. Avery was also on trial until he pled guilty to sexual abuse right before the trial began. According to the 2011 Grand Jury report, the pastor denied even knowing he was on the team. Eventually, the team did meet, a year after Avery arrived at the parish. Today, Lynn repeatedly stated that the pastor was part of the aftercare team and was aware of everything that was going on. Someone lied either today or last year. Isn’t it a crime to lie under oath?

We also heard today in court that Avery was doing a good job being a hospital chaplain via letters written by his therapist to Lynn, which made it seem as if Lynn was right on top of things. We were also led us to believe that a Father Kerper, an outsider from either Boston or New Hampshire, was harassing Father Avery who was just trying to be a good priest. While we listened to glowing reports of Avery’s progress in chaplaincy and Father’s Kerper’s taking all the mass spots at St. Jerome Parish, the 2011 Grand Jury report stated that Kerper complained to Lynn that Avery was ignoring parish work and making arrangements to DJ 25 out of 31 Saturdays. Lynn knew those glowing reports the jury heard about were untrue.

As the DA pounded Lynn with accusations that he did not protect children from abuse, Lynn insisted that he had little to no power to do anything beyond removing a priest who admitted to molesting children. All power was vested in the cardinal. Lynn, a grown man of 61 said, “The will of God works through the bishop.” (Bevilaqua) Lynn, therefore, could only do what the bishop wanted, told, and allowed him to do. In other words, Lynn was only following orders. He could not and would not to do otherwise, even when innocent children were being raped and sodomized.

Lynn, his voice shaking a bit, said that he really truly believed that he was doing his best – given the parameters of his job and his obedience to the cardinal- to help children.

I thought about Lynn and his power and his one admitted lie. Ten years ago, I had personally reported to Lynn that Cudemo still presided at mass at his victim’s geographic parish in spite of Lynn’s promise to our group that this practice would cease. Lynn’s exact words to me? “I told that pastor that I would take away his parish if it (Cudemo’s presiding at mass) happened again.”

Lynn let us in the support group believe that he had the power to remove men from ministry. Was he lying to us? That would be his second lie. Was he lying at the trial today when he said he had no power to remove men from ministry unless they confessed when he led us believe that he could? That could be lie #3. The 2005 Grand jury reported that the pastor Lynn allegedly threatened with removal was never told anything about Cudemo’s problems. Was that lie #4? Shall we go on?

How many other lies and liars and secret files are stashed away in the archdiocesan office that thinks it does the will of God when it knowingly places innocent children in harm’s way?

Eileen McCafferty DiFranco

May 23, 2012

"The Vatican Lays A Cunning Trap For American Nuns" by Mary Johnson/Huffington Post/ If Reformers lived in St. Joan of Arc's time, we'd be "crispy critters" for crossing hierarchy!

At the end of this month, the LeadershipConference of Women Religious will meet to formulate a response to a Vatican trap whose cunning is best appreciated within the long tradition of religious authorities who craft impossible dilemmas for those they perceive as threats. Two millennia ago, the chief priests sent someone to ask Jesus, "Should we pay taxes?" If Jesus said yes, he would pit himself against Jewish resistance to Roman occupation and therefore, in Jewish eyes, against God. If he said no, the Romans could execute him for sedition. Instead, Jesus famously replied, "Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."

In the 15th century, Joan of Arc's ecclesiastical inquisitors asked her, "Do you know yourself to be in God's grace?" If Joan answered yes, she would commit heresy because the Church had long taught that no one could be certain of being in God's grace; if no, they could interpret her answer as an admission of guilt. Joan looked them in the eyes and replied, "If I am not in God's grace, may God put me there; if I am, may God so keep me."

Today, the Vatican tells the women of the LCWR, "Submit to our oversight and control of your every action for the next five years." The Vatican's official "or else" clause remains unstated but clear to all involved. "Submit to our authority, or call yourselves Catholic no longer..."

Bridget Mary's Reflection

In my view, the LCWR should not submit to the power and control tactic of the bishops.  The bishops do not "own" our Catholic identity. By baptism we are initiated into this faith community and noone, not even the pope, can take it away from us. The nuns are as Catholic as the pope and the bishops who seek to dominate them. I pray that Wisdom Sophia may guide the Sisters and that the people of God, the church, may continue to support these dedicated disciples of Christ so that nunjustice will be done! I am glad that we do not live in the 14th century when burning at the stake was the price one paid for following one's conscience and  crossing the hierarchy. My brother, Sean, has said to me more than once, you are lucky you live in this age. If you lived in St. Joan's era, you would be a "crispy critter!"  
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
www.arcwp.org
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-c-johnson/vatican-lays-a-cunning-trap-for-american-nuns_b_1527369.html

Conservative Bishops Court the Disdain of Catholic Women/LA Times/ check out great cartoon!!

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-catholic-women-20120523,0,834728.story

By David Horsey

May 24, 2012, 5:00 a.m.

"America’s conservative Catholic bishops are so worried that some woman in their employ will get access to birth controlthat they have filed 12 lawsuits against the federal government. What they are failing to see is a much bigger challenge that should have them truly worried: the independence of Catholic women.

At issue in the lawsuits is the Obama administration’s pending regulation that would require church-run institutions, like universities and hospitals, to provide coverage for contraceptives as part of any employee healthcare package. The Roman Catholic Church, of course, condemns birth control and equates some contraceptive methods with abortion. This dispute erupted in February and spilled over into the Republican presidential primaries, onto the floor of Congress and, notoriously, into a three day Rush Limbaughrant in which he labeled a pro-contraceptive woman a slut.

When Republicans saw that siding with the bishops was causing them to rapidly lose ground with female voters, they tried to change the subject. And once the Obama administration massaged the regulation to mandate that insurers, not employers, provide contraceptive coverage, the brouhaha seemed to die down.

But now it's back. The insurance loophole is not big enough for the consciences of some bishops and leaders of Catholic institutions to pass through. Women who work for them will still be getting contraceptives as a benefit of their employment. Conservative bishops have been very vocal in their condemnation of the Obama administration and they are organizing a “Fortnight for Freedom” to run from June 21 to July 4 in which they plan to highlight threats to religious freedom -- which they consider the contraceptive mandate to be.

Out of 195 Catholic dioceses in the U.S., though, just 13 are going to court. In all those nonlitigating sectors of the church, there are thousands of Catholics, including quite a few bishops, who think the lawsuits are not only premature, but that the conservative bishops have turned this into a partisan, anti-Obama crusade.

In California, church leaders are complaining that, before anyone rushed to court, the dispute should have been addressed by the entireU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Reportedly, lawyers for the California bishops have sent a letter to the national bishops’ group that calls the lawsuits “ill-advised” and “imprudent.”

Moderate priests and bishops are refraining from participation in the “Fortnight for Freedom” because they see it as too tainted by pro-Republican election-year politics. While they share some of the concerns about contraceptive coverage, they believe the issue has been hijacked by right-wingers in the church.

So, there is revolt in the clerical ranks. And if the conservative bishops don’t see that as a problem (and, since they have so successfully stifled progressive Catholic voices in recent years, they may not), they should think about all those Catholic women who are weary of old, unmarried men telling them how to be holy. The undisputed fact that the vast majority of Catholic women use birth control suggests that the bishops are defending a prohibition that seems absurd to most of their parishioners."

"Father Doesn't Know Best" by Maureen Dowd in New York Times/ Neither do the Bishops in the Contraception Debacle

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/opinion/dowd-father-doesnt-know-best.html?_r=1

"Your parents spill a few secrets as they get older.One night at dinner with my mom, I ventured that the rhythm method had worked well for her, given that there were six years between my sister Peggy and my brother Kevin, and six more between Kevin and me. She arched an eyebrow. “Well, sometimes your father used something,” she said. My parents were the most devout Catholics I’ve ever known. But my dad came from a family of 16 in County Clare in Ireland, and my mom’s mother came from a family of 13 in County Mayo. So they balanced their faith with a dose of practicality. After their first three kids, they sagely decided family planning was not soul-staining. So I wasn’t surprised to see the Gallup poll Tuesday showing that 82 percent of U.S. Catholics say birth control is morally acceptable. (Eighty-nine percent of all Americans and 90 percent of non-Catholics agreed.) Gallup tested the morality of 18 issues, and birth control came out on top as the most acceptable, beating divorce, which garnered 67 percent approval, and “buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur,” which got a 60 percent thumbs-up (more from Republicans, naturally, than Democrats)...The poll appeared on the same day as headlines about Catholic Church leaders fighting President Obama’s attempt to get insurance coverage for contraception for women who work or go to college at Catholic institutions. The church insists it’s an argument about religious freedom, not birth control. But, really, it’s about birth control, and women’s lower caste in the church. It’s about conservative bishops targeting Democratic candidates who support contraception and abortion rights as a matter of public policy. And it’s about a church that is obsessed with sex in ways it shouldn’t be, and not obsessed with sex in ways it should be.The bishops and the Vatican care passionately about putting women in chastity belts. Yet they let unchaste priests run wild for decades, unconcerned about the generations of children who were violated and raped and passed around like communion wine..."

Bridget Mary's Reflection

It is shocking that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church continues to get away with such a travesty of justice the global sexual abuse cover-up and the treatment of women as second class citizens.  It violates their consciences, the bishops claim to provide contraception coverage for their employees, but how about the Catholic and non-Catholic women who work for the institutional church whose freedom of conscience and reproductive health and well-being are at stake. If the Catholic Church uses tax dollars, then it should provide health care to all including contraception coverage. If the bishops were the ones bearing and raising children, you better believe contraception would be covered, and there would not be large families either! And, of course, this is a non-issue for married priests and women priests- which is exactly what the Catholic Church needs now- a dose of reality therapy. The real issue here is the bishops' political agenda and sexism!  Freedom of religion applies to all , not just to the U.S. Catholic bishops. Wake-up gentlemen, it is the 21st century and women's equality is a justice issue!

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

www.arcwp.org