Clergy sex abuse, and objective look at the issue

In the news pedophile priest scandals are surfacing in Europe.  We need to look at this tragedy from an objective perspective.  Philip Jenkins is a professor at Penn State.  He is NOT a Catholic.   He has written a very objective book on this topic:

http://www.amazon.com/Pedophiles-Priests-Anatomy-Contemporary-Crisis/dp/0195145976

This was summarized in an article by Jenkins at:

http://www.zenit.org/article-3922?l=english

Another Catholic author on another blog summarized the article and book in the following bullet points.  I believe that any abuse is a horrible thing, and anyone who violates that trust should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.   However, priests are being portrayed in a biased way in the media, and we need to understand the situation.  Please read the articles/book or at least this summary:


•Priestly celibacy is not the issue - married men are more likely to abuse children than unmarried

•Most child abuse takes place within the home.

•All religious groups have pedophile scandals, and the Catholics (while the largest religious group) are at the bottom of the list statistically.

•Child abuse is prevalent in all areas of society: schools, youth organizations, sports, etc.

•Statistically, of all the professions, Christian clergy are least likely to offend. Doctors, Farmers and Teachers are the professions most likely to abuse children--not clergy.

•Among clergy offenders Catholic priests are least likely to offend.

•Catholic cases of pedophilia make more headlines because of anti Catholic prejudice and because the Catholic Church is bigger and more lucractive to sue.

•Pedophilia and Euphebophilia are different problems. The former is sexual attraction to pre-pubescent children. The latter is attraction to teenagers. Most cases branded 'pedophila' are actually 'euphebophila.'

•Most of the cases of euphebophilia are homosexual in nature, however the politically correct do not want this problem to be associated with homosexuality.

•The number of Catholic priests guilty of pedophilia is very small.

•What we now call 'cover up' was often done in a different cultural context, when the problem was not fully understood and when all establishment organizations hushed scandals. They did so for what seemed good reasons at the time: protection of the victims and their families, opportunity for rehabilitation of the offender, the avoidance of scandal to others. It is unfair to judge events thirty years ago by today's standards.

•When lawsuits are looming people smell money. We must be wary of false accusations.

•The accused must be entitled to a fair hearing. The church should insist on hard proof of the abuse, and for the sake of justice, ensure that the innocent are not prosecuted.

•When guilt is established the offender must be punished, not sheltered.

•Distinctions must be made between types of abuse. Some offenses are worse than others. Verbal abuse or corporal punishment during a time when that was acceptable, while lamentable, is not the same as sexual abuse or extreme physical abuse.

•Sexual abuse of an adult, or a sexually experienced older teenager is wrong, and damaging, and should be punished, but it is not the same as the sexual abuse of a younger, innocent child.

•Number of offenses must be considered. One lapse is not of the same seriousness as repeated, persistent and premeditated offenses.

Bishops Reiterate Opposition to Health Care Bill

From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops urged the House of Representatives to fix flaws in health care legislation or vote against its passage in a March 20 letter to House members. The letter was signed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair on the Committee on Migration.

Read the letter here

www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-051.shtml

Meanwhile, take three minutes and call these guys. Tell them not to cave.

Berry (202) 225-4076

Cueller 202-225-1640

Kaptur(202) 225-4146

Rahall (202) 225-3452

Building our Church!

Greetings,

In 1913 Holy Cross Church burned to the ground.  Immediately the people of Kaukauna gathered together, and by Christmas of 1916 built a new Church.  Here is the first construction pictures as our new church was going up.  The scaffolding you see is in front the new sanctuary.  The people of that day were very poor.  They had nothing, but God was the center of their life, and they built our church.

This picture is our roof.  You can see that any building a structure.  I always find that it is fascinating to see the guts of a building.

Here we see that the church is almost finished.  None of the windows are in yet, and everything looks so NEW.   This was the beginning.  A couple of months after this picture began YEARS of worship

I began talking about building Holy Cross Church.   We have these great pictures of the building.  However, this is not really building Holy Cross Church.   Holy Cross Church are the people gathered around the altar of God in worship.  It is a community formed by faith into body of Christ.  Yes, the building is very important, however, it is the people on a pilgrimage to the new and eternal Jerusalem that make up the Church.    Let's build the Church.

Happy St. Patrick Day!!!

Greetings,

It may be fun to celebrate this day with green food, and green beverages, and boiled meat, but if you really want to celebrate St. Patrick you will enter into his Spirituality.   St. Patrick always began with Trinity, and then focused on Christ.  Patrick saw all life as Liturgical.  We are all part of a cosmic liturgy worshiping God with every moment of our day.  His famous prayer was the 'Breastplate of St. Patrick", or Lorica.  This was his morning prayer and meditation.   If you really wanted to celebrate Patrick, begin your day with this prayer(Or at least try it for the rest of Lent).

I arise today, through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness, of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today, through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today, through the strength of the love of the Cherubim, in obedience of angels, in the service of archangels, in the hope of the resurrection to meet with reward, in the prayers of patriarchs, in prediction of prophets, in preaching of apostles, in faith of confessors, in innocence of holy virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through the strength of heaven; light of sun, radiance of moon, splendor of fire, speed of lightning, swiftness of wind, depth of sea, stability of earth, firmness of rock.

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me: God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak to me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me, from the snares of devils, from temptations of vices, from every one who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a multitude.

I summon today, all these powers between me and those evils, against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of pagandom, against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of women and smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today, against poisoning, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so there come to me abundance of reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me, Christ in the eye of every one that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today, through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the threeness, through confession of the oneness, of the Creator of Creation.

Transcendence of beauty

Beauty in poetry, beauty in Song, beauty in music, beauty in any way helps us to transcend ourselves and to be open to something greater.   That is the goal of a beautiful church.  Recently I posted on the symbolism of a church, but sometimes the shear beauty is enough to raise your hearts and minds to God in worship.  Enjoy this different pictures of churches.  They are different styles, but I would still encourage you to find  symbolism in them.   Enjoy the beauty.

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Of the 6 Churches Do you have a Favorite?

I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart

Greetings,


Today I was meditating on the first reading, which was Moses’ encounter with God in the Burning Bush. When Moses asked for God’s name he was told that: “I am who am…. Tell them ‘I am’ sent you”. God is not just a being within creation, but rather he is being itself. He is the creator and he sustains all existence every second. This means that God is the Lord of all creation and beyond any comprehension of him. God is so far beyond our comprehension that we would know more by saying what God is NOT rather than who God is.

It is important to recognize how far above of God is. When we recognize this distance between us and God it leaves us in an AWE-inspired silence. Whenever we worship at Mass, whenever we come before God in prayer our first response before anything else is silence. It is when we stand before God in life changing adoration and awe that we will begin to have a real relationship with God. We begin with prayer recognizing that God initiates all communication and we begin are listeners. We need silence when we encounter God. Pausing for a minute after the homily or after communion is not enough. We are encountering God in the holy of holies of the Soul! As God speaks to us in silence we are swept up into the conversation of the most holy Trinity.

Jesus came from God to draw us back into God. All our life is a return to God. Christians all through the ages are drawn into this relationship of Jesus with his Father. We need to recognize who God is so that when we come before God in prayer, we will Adore, and worship in awe!

peace

Theology of our Church

Greetings,

Catholics can worship any place. Where ever we gather in the Spirit and pray, it is a good thing. In places where our faith is persecuted, altars are/were set up in forests, in homes, or any place Catholics could gather for Mass.

However, our Churches are built to aid us in our worship. Our goal is to imitate the worship of Heaven as seen in the book of Revelation.  Our Parish has LOTS of great symbolism. Lets take a look at it:

1. Many Churches are built in the shape of a Cross(The floor plan is in the shape of a cross). This is because we are to become a cruciform People. We are to take up our Cross and follow Jesus and we are to be formed by the cross. In baptism we die with Christ so that we can Rise with Christ. In our area Holy Cross, Kaukauna; St. Mary’s, Kaukauna; St. Francis, Hollandtown; and Holy Name, Kimberly are examples of this.

2. The Church is the shape of the cross, and if you look at the floor plan from above, the Altar is where Jesus' head would be on the cross, and the people are where the body would be. This lets the People know that the Church is the body of Christ, while Christ is the head. The very shape of the Church helps us know who we are: We are the body of Christ, with Christ as the head.

3. The Nave: This is the main part of the church where the people sit. There are often ribs on the ceiling of the Church. These ribs originally were there for structure, but are continued even to this day. Why? The ribs looks like the bottom of a ship. And the word Nave for this part of the church comes from the Latin word for Ship(Where we get the word Navy). The symbol is: The church is a ship. In the midst of the turbulent seas of the world, we are saved when we are in Christ's ship journeying to our True home, which is heaven. Seeing the Church as a ship, the church is called: The Barque of Peter, (the boat of Peter)

4. Our created world can be seen in three different theological realities: There is the Unredeemed world, the Redeemed world, and heaven. This three part division is also seen in our churches.

A. The sanctuary, the front of the church where the altar is symbolizes heaven. The altar is here. Often there is a redos(back altar) that looks like a city. This symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem. The sanctuary has Candles, Incense, and the people are wearing white robes. All these come from Revelation 4 and 5 as seen in the worship of heaven. When worship is focused on the sanctuary we begin by joining the Angels and saints sininging "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord...." Notice this is found both in Revelation, and the angels are singing this is Isaiah 6. It is the heavenly Jerusalem.

         

B. The Nave is a symbol of REDEEMED Humanity. This is the place where those who are redeemed in Christ gather to worship God. Notice that holy water fonts are place at the entrance of this space. As you enter you dip your hand in holy water to recognize that your are redeemed in Christ by your baptism. As you leave the space you again recognize your baptism, and as a redeemed person you go into unredeemed world to evangelize. There are often Plant images in this space to remind people of the garden of Eden.

C. Outside of the Nave such as the gathering space, or outside the church is a symbol of Unredeemed reality. This is the our mission to bring people to the redeeming power of Christ.

D. Example: At baptism, the unbaptized person is NOT redeemed. We meet them at the door of the church for the baptism. After the baptism they come into the church and they are to live as a redeemed Christian all their life.

E. Example: At a funeral: We meet the Casket at the door. We use all of the baptismal symbols to show that this person was baptized and redeemed in Christ. God always remembers his promises. Then we bring the body to the front of the Church, right up the Sanctuary(symbolic of heaven), and we pray for the person.

5. The building is NOT necessary, but if you understand what the building is saying it will help worship, and help Christians to understand who we are and what our mission is.

Peace