Posted by Jim on August 3, 2017
Come join us for the
16th Anniversary Tribute Walk for
FDNY Chaplain, Father Mychal F. Judge
and
343 FDNY, 37 PAPD, 23 NYPD,
3 NYS Court Officers,
1 NYS Trooper
2 FBI, 1 Secret Service,
125 dedicated personnel at the Pentagon,
40 brave souls at Shanksville,
2, 330 defenseless civilians at the WTC
And those who continue to die…
We begin at St. Francis of Assisi Church
(135 West 31st St.-between 6th & 7th Ave[near Penn Station])
at 9:00am on SUNDAY September 10th, 2017
The Rosary (9:00am) will be followed by a Catholic Mass (9:30am), with the “Walk” to follow at 10:30am…
As we make our way downtown we will stop at
Firehouses and Police Precincts and read from Scripture.
For further information, contact:
FDNY Firefighter Jack Cook (516) 263-4685
John Bates (516) 238-0952
FDNY Retired Lt. Bill Schillinger (917) 902-6689
Posted by Jim on August 2, 2017
Tim Reidy| Gerard O’Connell
August 02, 2016
In a press release issued this morning, the Vatican announced that “after intense prayer and mature reflection,” Pope Francis has established a “Commission of Study on the Diaconate of Women” and named twelve members to it, six of them women, including one American—Professor Phyllis Zagano, who teaches at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.
Professor Zagano is a widely published author on the subject of women deacons whose writings who have appeared in America.
Editor’s note: This post was updated at 8:15 am to include a fuller analysis of the membership of the commission and context from Pope Francis’ discussion leading up to this decision. We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available.
In addition to the 12 members, he appointed as president of the commission the Jesuit priest, Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, who is Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A full list of the members is included below.
The Vatican made the announcement today, Aug. 2, and recalled that during the meeting with participants of the Plenary Assembly of Religious Superiors on May 12, the pope had expressed the intention “to set up an official commission to study the question” of the Diaconate of Women, “especially regarding the first times periods of the church.”
RELATED: Phyllis Zagano talks to “America This Week” about the possibility of women deacons.
Five of the members teach at pontifical universities in Rome; four are members of the International Theological Commission. In addition to the commission’s president, Archbishop Ladaria, two other members are Jesuits. They come from different countries: four are from Italy, two from the United States, and others from Rwanda, Spain, France, Germany, Austria and Belgium.*
The commission includes members with a variety of theological perspectives. For example, Father Robert Dodaro, an American Augustinian, was an editor of a book published before the Synod on the Family with contributions from five cardinals arguing against Cardinal Kasper’s position for greater openess on the question of communion for the divorced and remarried.
The full list of commission members includes:
•Sr. Nuria Calduch-Benages, M.H.S.F.N., Member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission;
•Prof. Francesca Cocchini, Professor at the University “La Sapienza” and at the Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome;
•Rev.do Msgr. Piero Coda, Dean of the University Institute “Sophia,” Loppiano, and Member of the International Theological Commission;
•Rev.do P. Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., Dean Patristic Institute “Augustinianum,” Rome, and Professor of Patrology;
•Rev.do P. Santiago Madrigal Terrazas, S.J., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical University “Comillas,” Madrid;
•Sr. Mary Melone, S.F.A., rector of the Pontifical University “Antonianum,” Rome;
•Rev.do Karl-Heinz Menke, Emeritus Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Bonn and member of the International Theological Commission;
•Rev.do Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., professor of ecclesiology at the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome;
•Rev.do P. Bernard Pottier, S.J., Professor at the ”Institut d’Etudes théologiques,” Brussels, and member of the International Theological Commission;
•Prof. Marianne Schlosser, Professor of Spiritual Theology at the University of Vienna and a member of the International Theological Commission;
•Prof. Michelina Tenace, Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.
•Prof. Phyllis Zagano, Professor Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.
To appreciate the full context of his decision to establish the commission, it is worth re-reading Pope Francis’ responses to two questions put to him in recent times. (These answers, including the ellipses, are the official texts published by the Vatican).
First, the following is the question he was asked and the response he gave at the free-flowing Q&A session in the Vatican on May 12 with the International Union of Superiors General:
Question: […] In the Church there is the office of the permanent diaconate, but it is open only to men, married or not. What prevents the Church from including women among permanent deacons, as was the case in the primitive Church? Why not constitute an official commission to study the matter?
Pope Francis: This question goes in the direction of “doing”: consecrated women already do much work with the poor, they do many things … “doing.” And it touches on the problem of the permanent diaconate. … In effect this exists in antiquity: there was a beginning.… I remember that it was a theme I was quite interested in when I came to Rome for meetings … there was a good Syrian theologian there and one day I asked him about this, and he explained to me that in the early times of the Church there were some “deaconesses”. But what were these deaconesses? Were they ordained or not? The Council of Chalcedon (451) speaks about this but it is somewhat obscure. What was the role of deaconesses in those times? It seems—I was told by this man, who is now dead but who was a good professor, wise and erudite—it seems that the role of the deaconesses was to help in the baptism of women, their immersion; they baptized them for the sake of decorum, and also to anoint the body of women, in baptism. And another curious thing: when there was a judgement on a marriage because a husband hit his wife and she went to the bishop to complain, deaconesses were responsible for inspecting the bruises left on the woman’s body from her husband’s blows, and for informing the bishop. … There are various publications on the diaconate in the Church, but it is not clear how it was. I think I will ask the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to refer me to some studies on this theme, because I have answered you only on the basis of what I heard from this priest, who was an erudite and able researcher, on the permanent diaconate. In addition, I would like to constitute an official commission to study the question: I think it will be good for the Church to clarify this point, I agree, and I will speak so as to do something of this type.
He returned to the question again on May 26 in a press conference on the flight from Armenia to Rome.
Question: Holy Father, some weeks ago, you spoke about a commission to look into the idea of women deacons. I would like to know if this commission already exists and what issues need to be resolved? Then too, sometimes a commission is a useful way to forget about problems; I would like to know if that is the case here.
Pope Francis: We had a president of Argentina who used to say, and he would give this advice to presidents of other countries, “When you want something to remain unresolved, set up a commission!” The first person surprised by this news story was myself, because my dialogue with women religious—which was recorded and then published in L’Osservatore Romano – was something different, along the lines of: “We have heard that in the early centuries there were deaconesses. Could this be looked at? A commission set up…?” That was it. They asked a question, they were polite and not only that, but also they love the Church, consecrated women.
I told the story about how I knew a Syrian, a Syrian theologian who has since died, the one who prepared the critical edition of Saint Ephrem in Italian. Once, we were talking about deaconesses—when I used to visit, I would stay on the Via della Scrofa and he lived there too—once at breakfast, he told me: “Yes, but we do not know what they were exactly, if they were ordained…” There were certainly these women who helped the bishop. They helped him with three things. First, with baptizing women, because baptism was by immersion; second, with the pre- and post-baptismal anointing of women; third, and this one makes you laugh, when wives would complain to the Bishop that their husbands beat them, the bishop would call one of these deaconesses to examine the body for bruises that could serve as evidence. That’s what I said. “Can it be studied?” “Yes, I will tell the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to set up this commission”. The next day [the headlines read]: “Church opens the door to women deacons!”
To tell the truth, I was a little annoyed with the media because this is not telling people the whole truth. I spoke with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who told me: “But there was a study done by the International Theological Commission in the 1980s”. I spoke with the president of the Superiors General and told her: “Please give me a list of persons you think could be on this commission”. And she sent me the list. The Prefect also sent a list, and they are on my desk, with a view to establishing this commission. I believe that much attention was given to the issue back in the 80s and it will not be difficult to shed light on the matter.
But there is also another thing. A year and a half ago, I named a commission of women theologians who have been working with Cardinal Ryłko [the President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity] and they have done a good job, since it matters what women think. For me, what a woman does is not as important as what she thinks: women think differently than we men. And one cannot make a good and proper decision without listening to women. Sometimes in Buenos Aires I would have a meeting with my consultors; I would listen to what they had to say and then I called in some women, and they saw things in a very different light. This enriched us greatly, and the decision proved fruitful, very fine. I have to meet these women theologians; they did a good job, but things have stopped. Why? Because the office for the laity is now being restructured. I am waiting for this to happen and then to take up the second issue, that of the women deacons. Another thing about women theologians: and I would like to stress this—the way women understand, think through and see women’s issues is more important than what women do. Finally, I would repeat what I have always said: the Church is a woman, the Church is a “she”. And she is no “old maid”. She is a woman married to the Son of God; her spouse is Jesus Christ. Think about this and then tell me what you think…
*Corrections:
Aug. 3, 2016: Robert Dodaro, O.S.A. was mistakenly identified as Italian. He is from the United States.
Aug. 2, 2016: In a previous version of this article, Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., was referred to as Father Ferrer. His correct title is Archbishop Ladaria.
Posted by Jim on
Brian Feeney.Irish News. Belfast. Wednesday, August 2, 2017
When the DUP were negotiating their dirty deal with Theresa May’s wing of the Conservative party in June, Slugger O’Toole’s inventor Mick Fealty reminded them what the late Seamus Brennan said to the Greens when they were negotiating a coalition with Fianna Fáil in 2007. “You’re playing senior hurling now, lads.”
Boy, don’t the DUP know that now. Simon Coveney may not have formally presented a proposal for a Border in the Irish Sea, but make no mistake that’s one of the options being considered in what Michel Barnier called a ‘high-level political dialogue’ between his deputy Sabine Weyand and Britain’s top official in the Brexit negotiations, Olly Robbins.
This unexpected consequence of their support for the minority Conservative government (as well as free abortions for women from The North in Britain) has driven the two amigos, Deputy Dawds and his sidekick Corporal [Jeffrey ] Donaldson frantic. They are both in deep denial, as usual viewing the world through the wrong end of a Unionist telescope.
Donaldson has become a self-appointed overnight expert in electronic borders. He imagines the Irish government is going to fund sophisticated cameras tracking cross border vehicles when the Taoiseach and Coveney have both said they won’t pay for a British designed border. Donaldson even resorted to producing incorrect trade figures to support his case. He told the BBC’s Today programme 64 per cent of Irish exports go to the UK. In fact it’s 12.8 per cent but then you can tell the Today program anything about Ireland.
Both Deputy Dawds and his Corporal ignore the reality that Britain and the EU are currently trying to produce a political solution to the border problem first, and then work out the technical details, not the other way round. That’s what Barnier has made clear and that’s what Varadkar repeated.
In all this the DUP are small fry. Remember lads, what happened in 1985 and 1997. If you can be bought, you can be sold and you will be. Your deal runs out at the latest in May 2019 if May lasts that long.
The Conservatives hate being in cahoots with you and they despise you. You don’t need to be reminded what Crispin Blunt MP thinks about you, do you? The British press stand ready to devour you. ‘Coalition of Crackpots’ is the mildest headline. For Nationalists the daft DUP are the gift that keeps on giving now that they’re exposed to public gaze.
All great fun but there’s a very serious side to the present chaos. That’s extreme polarization in Northern society. The Brexit vote exemplified it. Figures produced by Prof John Tonge of Liverpool University show the extent of it. 89 per cent of nationalists voted remain versus 35 per cent of unionists. 86 per cent of Sinn Féin voters voted remain versus 30 per cent of DUP voters. Translated into religious denominations 85 per cent of Catholics voted remain versus 41 per cent of Protestants.
You don’t have to be reminded of the recent elections. Huge increases for both DUP and Sinn Féin. SDLP and UUP crushed. The Alliance party irrelevant. Ninety per cent of the population correctly don’t vote for them. After 47 years they’re a failed concept. Nationalists have rejected Westminster opting for abstention.
In this context the Conservative-DUP pact is very dangerous. Nationalists overwhelmingly supported Sinn Féin’s withdrawal from the Assembly and Executive because the DUP had engaged in fake power-sharing. As often, Arlene Foster blurted out the truth when she said she was there to stop ‘rogues and renegades’ getting anything. The DUP, always opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, by 2016 weren’t even pretending to work it.
In the last seven years a series of weak proconsuls [Secretaries of State] devoid of political substance, heft or visible ability has caused a profound loss of confidence among the nationalist community. The close association of Conservative politicians with the DUP during those years, the blithe ignoring of the interests of the Nationalist community has upset the delicate equilibrium the Good Friday Agreement established.
On top of this failure by the British government came the catastrophe of Brexit which, as the figures above demonstrate, intensified polarization.
At least this new Irish cabinet has woken up to the dangers.
Posted by Jim on August 1, 2017
CAPITOL HILL Wednesday, August 1, 2017
The United States senate has been told
Irish-Americans are deeply concerned with the section in the Financial Choice Act that would, in effect, most shamefully sabotage shareholder proposals by over 99% of the American people.”
In a letter (July 28) to all the 100 U.S. Senators, the organization that launched the MacBride Principles on November 5, 1984 states: “That section of the Act would destroy the SEC Shareholder Proposal–Rule (14a-8) replacing it with a requirement of 1% ownership of the company over a three-year period (instead 1% or $2000 for one year) in order to be able to submit a proposal.
So, for example, this would mean that to submit a shareholder proposal to Apple, one would have to own $7.5 billion in shares —and to submit a shareholder proposal to Wells Fargo, one would have to own $2.5 billion in shares —whereas at present one only needs to have owned $2,000 worth of shares for one year.”
The writer of the letter, Fr. Sean McManus —president of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus— tells the Senators: “This would amount to a flagrant attack on America’s founding principle, ‘We the people.’ It would outrageously eliminate millions of citizens and the average American from having a say on the conduct of publicly held companies. The ordinary citizen, investor, consumer, and stakeholder are dismissed, leaving only the super-rich with any say. What American can possibly condone this? And what Member of the U.S. Senate would vote for it— to take away the voice of the ordinary citizen, franchising only the mega rich? It is undemocratic, un-American, and would further lend credence to the all too common charge that the U.S. Congress is controlled by the 1% mega rich.”
Then, specifically on the implications of all this for the Mac Bride Principles, Fr. Mc Manus’ letter explains: “ From a specifically Irish-American perspective, it would Caucus on November 5, 1984.Since then, 116 companies have agreed to implement the Mac Bride Principles. The Principles have been signed into law by 18 States and numerous cities and towns. And the Principles were twice passed by the Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Clinton in 1998.”
Fr. Mc Manus’ letter concludes with :“Therefore, this terrible initiative is not only an attack on basic American values but it will be seen as an attempt to sabotage the Mac Bride Principles, which have played a key role in promoting equality and non-discrimination in employment in Northern Ireland, thereby making a vital contribution to the Irish peace process.
I am totally confident in saying that the Irish National Caucus is reflecting the opinion of the majority of concerned Irish-Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike— when I respectfully ask you to take a strong stand against this un-American attempt to silence the voices of ordinary American citizens.
Please respond promptly as we are publishing the position of all U.S. Senators on this vital issue for Irish-Americans.”
Fr. Sean Mc Manus