US miracle paves way for Cardinal Newman’s beatification

Cardinal John Henry Newman (CNS/Crosiers)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI this morning signed the decree recognizing the miracle needed for the beatification of British Cardinal John Henry Newman.

A date for the beatification of the 19th-century cardinal, who founded the Oxford Movement in the Church of England before becoming a Roman Catholic, has not been announced. Nor is it known where the ceremony will take place or who will preside.

Deacon John Sullivan (CNS/The Pilot)

Pope Benedict XVI has not been presiding over beatification ceremonies and most of the beatifications he has authorized have been celebrated in the blessed’s home country.

What is clear, however, is that the healing accepted as the miracle needed for the beatification involves Deacon John Sullivan of Marshfield, Mass. The deacon was cured of a debilitating back injury after praying for the intercession of Cardinal Newman.

Year for Priests: Different roles, common mission

By Basilian Father Chris Valka
One in a series

As a young religious priest, I am often the anomaly living in houses with men who are as old or older than my own grandparents. In recent weeks I have had a number of conversations about the differences between my own ministry as a priest and the ministry my confreres knew when they were young priests. Since most people are familiar with the “traditional” ministries of priests as teachers, pastors and administrators of various sorts, I thought I would take the opportunity to share a bit of my own experience of the priesthood and religious life.

When I first met the Congregation of St. Basil, I arrived with a U-Haul full of possessions. Now I can barely fill the trunk of a car. My life has been a steady progression towards simplicity and re-defining what it means to be “self-sufficient.” No doubt, this is the natural consequence of moving to a new part of the world almost every year.

I have never known what it was like to live in religious house with dozens of my peers. Seminarians were the minority in my theology classes — most were lay ministers and women. As a result my approach to ministry reflects the need for dialogue and collaboration all the while respecting the authority of the church. I am well-trained in media and interreligious issues and have completed more psychosexual education than most of my confreres have had during their entire life.

I would estimate that 30 percent of my ministry occurs entirely online. I maintain a number of Web sites, write frequently, host and/or am interviewed for various radio, TV, and Web programs, and email often. It is quite possible that I minister to more people than I will ever see or meet. I have found the greatest asset to my ministry is availability. I am on Facebook, carry a smart phone, text as much as I talk, listen to podcasts and read just about everything in digital format. Though I have students frequently in my office (usually without any warning or appointment), they are more likely to reach me virtually than face-to-face (their preference, not mine).

As an extrovert, I am around people almost all the time, but after years of living in religious life, I have come to appreciate quiet time. The first cup of coffee (that I affectionately call Jesus-and-Joe Time) is sacred. As a distance runner and tri-athlete, I do some of my best thinking around between miles 5 and 10 and in the water.

Whether I am in a classroom, parish, coffee shop, pub, gym or running down a street in the early hours of the morning with friends, I consider myself a teacher and a witness of the Gospel. Though the particulars of my priesthood are very different from the priesthood of my confreres, we are bonded by our mission. As I listen to their stories, I am amazed at how hard they worked, which was magnified by their numbers. I must admit that I am intimidated when I think about the road ahead — one with more work and fewer priests, but I also take great comfort in the amazing lay ministers with whom I work. So while we pray for more priests, may we not forget to pray for more men and women to serve their church as professional ministers. In the end, I believe this is one of the most exciting moments in our history to be a Catholic priest and that my ministry is as limitless as my imagination.

Father Chris Valka, CSB, was ordained a priest for the Congregation of St. Basil in May and will be teaching at Detroit Catholic Central High School in Michigan beginning in late summer.

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Obama cites influence of Cardinal Bernardin, prepares to meet pope

(cross-post from our Web site)

UPDATED: Read full story here

SECOND UPDATE: Two more stories here and here

THIRD UPDATE: Obama says he wants to talk with pope about aid to world’s poor

By Patricia Zapor
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Barack Obama told a round table of religion writers July 2 that he continues to be profoundly influenced by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, whom he came to know when he was a community organizer in a project partially funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

President Obama at today's meeting with religion writers. (CNS/White House)

Obama said his encounters with the cardinal continue to influence him, particularly his “seamless garment” approach to a multitude of social justice issues. He also told the group of eight reporters to expect a conscience clause protection for health care workers currently under review by the administration that will be no less protective than what existed previously.

In addition to Catholic News Service, the round table included reporters and editors from other Catholic publications: National Catholic Reporter, America magazine, Catholic Digest, National Catholic Register, Commonweal magazine and Vatican Radio. The religion writer from The Washington Post also participated.

It was held in anticipation of Obama’s audience with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican July 10. The 45-minute session touched on his expectations for that meeting as well as aspects of foreign policy, the public criticism directed at him by some Catholic bishops and others in the church, and the Obamas’ own search for a church home in Washington.

Obama said in some ways he sees his first meeting with the pope as the same as any contact with a head of state, “but obviously this is more than just that. The Catholic Church has such a profound influence worldwide and in our country, and the Holy Father is a thought leader and opinion leader on so many wide-ranging issues. His religious influence is one that extends beyond the Catholic Church.”

He said he considers it a great honor to be meeting with the pope and that he hopes the session will lead to further cooperation between the Vatican and the United States in addressing Middle East peace, worldwide poverty, climate change, immigration and a whole host of other issues.

Several of the questions addressed the sometimes contentious relations between the Obama administration and some U.S. bishops, notably surrounding the president’s commencement address at the University of Notre Dame in May. The university’s decision to invite Obama and present him with an honorary degree led to a wave of protests at the university and a flurry of criticism by more than 70 bishops who said his support for legal abortion made him an inappropriate choice by the university.

Statements by the U.S. bishops also have chastised Obama for administrative actions such as the reversal of the Mexico City policy, which had prohibited the use of federal family planning funds by organizations that provide abortions or counsel women to have abortions.

But Obama said he’s not going to be deterred from continuing to work with the U.S. Catholic hierarchy, in part “because I’m president of all Americans, not just Americans who happen to agree with me.”

“The American bishops have profound influence in their communities, in the church and beyond,” Obama said. “What I would say is that although there have been criticisms leveled at me from some of the bishops, there have been a number of bishops who have been extremely generous and supportive even if they don’t agree with me on every issue.”

He said part of why he wants to establish a good working relationship with the bishops is because he has fond memories of working with Cardinal Bernardin when Obama was a community organizer, working with Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago.

“And so I know the potential that the bishops have to speak out forcefully on issues of social justice,” Obama said.

MORE TO COME

Renaissance sculptor mixes secular, religious

Yesterday I ran into the first artwork I’ve seen from the Italian Renaissance that didn’t depict angels or Mary. Much of sculptor Tullio Lombardo’s work still remains in churches and shrines around Italy, but his pieces at the National Gallery of Art here in Washington leave the viewer wondering about characters’ identities and emotions.

Sculpture in National Gallery of Art exhibit. (CNS photo/Jessie Abrams)

The exhibit, opening to the public July 4, is small and includes mostly marble sculptures and busts. Lombardo’s work is not the only art in the display; also included are a few pieces from those who worked closely with him or were influenced by him.

Even though the art was not what I expected, I found a different type of divine presence in some of Lombardo’s work. There were two sculptures in particular in which the smooth marble made characters seem very present in form but their looks gaze up and away, indicating their focus is somewhere else.

Alison Luchs, the curator of early European sculpture at the National Gallery of Art, said by placing young beautiful nude characters close together and simultaneously having them look away from each other suggested to her the idea that physical beauty is not enough. She terms much of Lombardo’s work in the exhibit as “physically present but spiritually distant.”

Sculpture by Tullio Lombardo at National Gallery of Art. (CNS photo/Angela Cave)

In another one of Lombardo’s sculptures, again a young man is looking up into the sky instead of out into the world around him. I found the sculptures description — “Relief bust of a male saint?” — to clearly encompass the mystery Lombardo left in his artwork.

While he did become a secular artist at a time when many artists were still primarily bound to the needs of the church, Lombardo’s work still is too spiritual and too complex in composition to rule it out as strictly secular. Lombardo’s work still makes me wonder at the shift in his subject matter. Was he privately commissioned to sculpt images that were not for the church? Unlike some privately commissioned Renaissance paintings, Lombardo’s sculptures are not clear attempts at portraiture. Did some in Italy around the time of the Renaissance look past the art of the church and into more subjective art forms?

Although the gallery is displaying only about 10 pieces of Lombardo’s artwork, the exhibit raises many questions. Gallery officials say they expect Lombardo’s art to remain on display through the first of November.

What makes ‘a really great priest’?

A few weeks ago at Sunday Mass, our pastor told one of his frequent warm and humorous stories during the homily, and beneath the laughter that rippled through the crowded church, I heard the man sitting behind me say to his wife, “He’s such a good guy, a really great priest.”

I was a little startled to hear it. Not that I don’t agree, but sadly, I just don’t hear such sentiments expressed as much as I once did.

That’s the lede of a column in this week’s Catholic Telegraph in Cincinnati by Tricia Hempel, editor and general manager. She’s soliciting reader ideas for what makes a great priest in this Year for Priests. You can read her column and respond there, or you can comment here. (Remember, comments on this blog are moderated, so your responses may not instantly show up.)

‘The Catholic press loses a matriarch’

Ethel Gintoft with Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan in February. (Sam Lucero/The Compass)

That was the headline on a blog item posted last night about a dear friend to many of us, Ethel Gintoft, the retired associate publisher and executive editor of the Catholic Herald in Milwaukee, who died last week. (See “Ethel M. Gintoft: Remembering a Catholic Herald legend.) The tribute was written by Sam Lucero, editor of The Compass, newspaper of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis.

Ethel meant a lot to members of the Catholic press, and Sam’s tribute (earlier yesterday he was in Milwaukee for Ethel’s funeral Mass) in just a few sentences captures much of why that was. You can read the rest of Sam’s tribute here.

Also posting a tribute to Ethel yesterday was Heidi Schlumpf of the National Catholic Reporter. Heidi too captures what Ethel meant, writing, “At a time when women were still struggling for respect in newsrooms, she was succeeding in one owned by the male-dominated Catholic Church.” Read the rest here.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord …

Papal encyclical out on July 7

VATICAN CITY — The speculation is finally over. Today the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI’s long-anticipated social encyclical will be released next Tuesday, July 7th.

Journalists accredited to the Vatican will be given a copy of the encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (Love in Truth), at 9 a.m. Tuesday with an embargo on the text until noon Rome time. Expect full coverage from CNS!

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Cardinal Paul  Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum,” will present the encyclical during a Vatican press conference at 11:30 a.m.

They’ll be joined by Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi from the justice and peace council and Stefano Zamagni — an economic policy expert from the University of Bologna, who is also an adviser for the Vatican justice and peace council.

As we have written in several stories, the encyclical met with many delays, primarily because the pope wanted to go back to the text and make sure the document thoroughly dealt with the crippling global economic crisis that erupted while he was writing it.

Year for Priests: A modest suggestion for the priesthood

By Father Kenneth J. Doyle
One in a series

On June 19, at a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict XVI formally opened what he has proclaimed as the Year for Priests.

The purpose of the year, the pope has noted, is to encourage among priests a deeper prayer life and a renewed effort toward the “spiritual perfection” on which, says the pope, “the effectiveness of their ministry primarily depends.”

Let me say something about how the priesthood rolls out on the ground level and then make a modest suggestion.

The pope has timed the year to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of parish priests. But the life of the Curé of Ars, who spent several hours each day in the confessional in a rural town in France, bears little resemblance to the (mythical) “average day” of the priest in America right now.

Yesterday (as I write) was a Thursday, which is theoretically my “day off.” (A wonderful hospital chaplain generously takes the parish Mass on Thursday morning, so that the pastor can “get away,” which lately rarely happens.) This, in fact, was how yesterday went. It started at 8 a.m. at a board meeting of our local Catholic hospital, where the discussion is always spirited (and often lengthy). The hospital is building a quarter-billon-dollar addition, so there are financial issues surrounding that. It is also in the process of merging with a secular hospital, so there are ethical dimensions to address.

Finishing the meeting at 10, I drove to our parish office to draft a report on parish consolidation. The five Catholic parishes in our area this year are merging into three because of population shifts and the scarcity of priests. Lots of questions are on the table — new staffing patterns, revised Mass schedules, shared religious ed. programs, sale of vacated properties — and we have the next few months to figure it all out.

As I was writing that report, I was at the same time fielding phone calls: final arrangements for weddings (11 of them over the next few weeks) and baptisms (four this weekend); the ever-present calls from people with certain needs (the lonely woman who calls frequently simply to ask if it’s “all right if I call you tomorrow”; the man beset by scruples who calls most days, and many nights, to ask if I will “place your hands on my head, put the scapular around my neck and sprinkle me with holy water”). The challenge is to remember that “God is in the interruptions” and that a priest, like Christ, must always be kind.

Then it was off to the hospital and a local nursing home to visit parishioners, back to the parish for a wedding rehearsal, a 20-minute respite to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a supper-sandwich wolfed down at a local deli before repairing to the rectory desk to write a funeral homily. Soon it was 10 p.m. and time to fall asleep while watching the television news.

I’m not saying that the life of the priest is all work and no play; if you let it be that, you’ll soon be in trouble. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, I’m going to Baltimore with two high school classmates who are also fellow inveterate Red Sox fans to see Boston play two games against the Orioles. (Tickets at Fenway Park are nearly impossible, but at Camden Yards you can walk in off the street.)

What I am saying is that a monastic spirituality, with a large dose of quiet built in, just doesn’t work for today’s parish priest. Instead, how about this as a practical alternative: 10 minutes a day, early in the morning before the craziness begins, 10 minutes to talk things over with God, to measure progress on our journey to heaven. Let’s do it just for a year — the Year for Priests. It could even become a habit.

Father Doyle, a priest of the diocese of Albany, N.Y., has served as pastor of a large suburban parish for the last 17 years; he is also chancellor of the diocese for public information. Ordained in 1966, he has also been a high school religion teacher, editor of a diocesan newspaper, bureau chief in Rome for Catholic News Service, lawyer/lobbyist for the New York State Catholic Conference and director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Michael Jackson’s spirituality

Amid the whirlwind of talk and writings about the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson, after his death last week, we stumbled upon a story he wrote for Beliefnet in 2000 chronicling his faith.

During his childhood in the spotlight, Jackson found solace in going to church on Sundays, he wrote. He was raised a Jehovah’s Witness, though there have been reports that he converted to Islam. He also spent the Sabbath handing out missionary materials at homes and malls.

As the musical and cultural sensation grew in popularity, the media made it difficult for him to attend church, but he continued going door-to-door for “years and years” in disguise.

“I was comforted by the belief that God exists in my heart and in music and in beauty, not only in a building,” he wrote.

But he still missed feeling like part of a community, “sharing a day with God.”

He goes on to write that he experienced God when his children were born.

“Children are God’s gift to us. No — they are more than that — they are the very form of God’s energy and creativity and love. He is to be found in their innocence, experienced in their playfulness.”

Much of Jackson’s life was riddled by publicity crises, sex abuse accusations, unverified gossip, theories on what went wrong. This raw account offers a glimpse into the effect a lifetime of celebrity can have on a psyche.

And whatever you choose to believe and remember about his private life, it seems his intentions were good and his outlook pure.

Year for Priests: Called to be a witness of hope

Editor’s Note: Today we introduce a new feature, a blog series on the Year for Priests from the perspective of priests themselves. We have several priests who have agreed to write for us about their lives and ministry. Watch for their posts in the coming weeks and months.

By Basilian Father Chris Valka

Pope Paul VI said, “We learn more from witnesses than we do from teachers.” I have reflected on this statement from time to time and it has recently re-entered my consciousness as the “Year for Priests” begins. In many ways, this statement captures my own journey to the priesthood, one that I would like to share in this first of many installments on the CNS Blog.

Originally from Houston, Texas, I grew up a cradle Catholic and am still blessed with a close family that has remained together through the ups and downs. I was the typical rebellious teenager, but always maintained a sense of responsibility — probably because I was too afraid of my father’s dissatisfaction . . . or guilt trip, depending on the episode. In 1993, I attended World Youth Day in Denver and saw the Catholic Church for the first time. That is to say, I saw the “big picture” — a church that was much more than my experience of Sunday Mass. World Youth Day was (and is) big enough for even my imagination, and so the seed of priesthood was planted. I entered the diocesan seminary very young, only to leave a year and a half later. After a few false starts, I finished college and began working in “the real world.” Success came quickly, but my soul paid the price. I spent many years away from God and anything associated with religion.

Failure would later follow, and, for a while, life was very, very hard. I was forced to dig deep within myself in order to move forward and it was then that I found God — waiting. The relationship with God I once cherished had suffered terribly because of my own actions and it would take almost two years to repair it. Of course, God was willing to take me back immediately, but I needed a lot more time to realize who I was and what my life was to be about.

After many more false starts, I found myself teaching at a very impoverished, inner-city high school in Houston. During this time, I also met the Basilian Fathers. After my life had been stripped completely, its renovation occurred through my relationship with the Basilians and the lessons I learned from my students. Among many things, I realized that what my students really needed was someone to show them — not just tell them — that there is a different way to live. More than education or social services, what my students needed was a witness of hope.

As I reflected on my own life, I realized that the best vehicle of true hope that I had ever known was communicated through the ministry of the church. Though it has its flaws, I could not deny that the Catholic Church is still the most effective means by which God’s enduring grace, wisdom and hope is communicated to the world. So, in a dirty Houston high school classroom I heard God’s call for me to be a witness of hope through the voices of my students.

During the course of this next year, I hope to share the experience of formation and first year of priesthood. In the meantime, I ask that you continue to pray for those who feel they have lost their way, because it if often during those moments that we are most open to the way that leads us to God. May we all be witnesses of that hope.

Father Chris Valka, CSB, was ordained a priest for the Congregation of St. Basil in May and will be teaching at Detroit Catholic Central High School in Michigan beginning in late summer.