The Intentions of Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for December 2008

General Prayer Intention:

"That, faced with the expansion of the culture of violence and death, the Church may courageously promote the culture of life through all her apostolic and missionary activities."

Missionary Prayer Intention:

"That, especially in mission countries, Christians may show through gestures of kindness that the Child born in Bethlehem is the Hope of the world."

REFLECTIONS ON POPE BENEDICT XVI'S
MONTHLY INTENTIONS

December 2008

The Apostleship of Prayer receives monthly prayer intentions from Pope Benedict XVI and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. The reflections below seek to illuminate the Holy Father's concerns.


General Intention:

Culture of Life. That, faced with the expansion of the culture of violence and death, the Church may courageously promote the culture of life through all her apostolic and missionary activities.

Pope Benedict XVI asks us to pray for the culture of life - specifically, that the Church may effectively promote life through its activities. Prayer for the culture of life is urgent because the culture of violence and death is growing.

The culture of death is based on the idea that humans are something less than beings in the image of God, unique creatures so loved by their Creator that he took flesh and died to restore us to friendship with himself. When a society loses this belief in the inestimable value of each person, the culture of death creeps in.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in its discussion of the fifth commandment, "You shall not kill," specifically condemns murder, abortion, euthanasia, genocide, wars that are not necessary for defense, slavery, racism, sexism, torture, abuse, suicide, and all other acts that degrade or victimize people (2258-2317).

Although its moral vision has sharpened throughout history, the Church has always condemned the practices of the culture of death. The truth we uphold is that God is Love and Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus both affirmed and reversed the negative "thou shalt not" of the fifth commandment by giving us the positive commandment to love others and do good to them, even to the least of them, even to our enemies. We are to love, protect, and serve all who are vulnerable, including the unborn, young, old, ill, handicapped, weak, hurting, outcast, and oppressed.

This month we pray that the whole Church may promote the culture of life and be a true light to our darkening world.

Reflection:
Because we are sinners, we all have done things or have attitudes that are opposed to the culture of life. How do you think God wants to change you?.

Reading:
Matthew 5:21-22 - You have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You shall not kill: and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment."


Mission Intention:

Fraternal Witness. That, especially in mission countries, Christians may show through gestures of kindness that the Child born in Bethlehem is the Hope of the world.

This month the Pope offers us a Christmas intention that emphasizes again that Christians ought to be doers and not just hearers of the Word of God. We are to pray that all Christians will show by actions as well as words that the Child born in Bethlehem is the true Hope of the world.

What actions? "Gestures of kindness," says the Holy Father. What is the message? That God became a human being, a fragile child born into a world torn by sin and strife. God was never indifferent to our plight, but chose in one person at one time and in one place to manifest his Love. Previously God spoke through the prophets; this time he spoke through a gesture, his own appearance in the flesh.

In so doing, he unites himself with every person. Jesus was like us in all things, except sin. He walked among us and spoke God's own words. But then in another incomprehensible gesture of kindness toward us, he offered himself as an innocent sacrifice for our eternal life. Now "each one of us can say with the Apostle: The Son of God 'loved me and gave himself up for me' (Galatians 2:20)" (Gaudiem et Spes, 26).

Gaudiem et Spes (Joy and Hope) was approved by the bishops at the end of the great Church council of the 1960s. The document speaks eloquently about the Hope that extends from Bethlehem to our own world today. "By suffering for us he not only provided us with an example for our imitation, he blazed a trail, and if we follow it, life and death are made holy and take on new meaning" (27).

"Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from his gospel, they overwhelm us. Christ has risen, destroying death by his death; he lavished life upon us so that, as sons in the Son, we can cry out in the Spirit: Abba, Father" (33, 34).

By the power of that same Spirit of Christ, may Christians everywhere reflect their great Hope by "gestures of kindness," gestures small and large, expressing genuine love for others, forgetful of ourselves.

Reflection:
Through what gesture of kindness will you express your faith that the Child born in Bethlehem is the Hope of the world?

Reading:
Mark 9:36-37 - Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."


Prayer of the Month

O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life.
Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

--concluding prayer of Pope John Paul II's encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life)

Pope Benedict XVI, Divine Revelation and the recent elections

A message from Father John Corapi:

Pope Benedict XVI Asks Catholics to Read the Bible as the Church Reads the Bible
A recent priority of the Holy Father has been to motivate more Catholics to read the Bible as the Church reads the Bible—in other words, authentically. Pope Benedict XVI chose the Sacred Scriptures as the topic of the fall Synod of Bishops. There has been a healthy interest in reading the Bible since the Second Vatican Council, but all-too-often there hasn’t been proper instruction and direction for the lay faithful in this area.

One of the most important major documents that came out of the Second Vatican Council is the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, or “Dei Verbum,”—“Word of God.” This is the Church’s most important contemporary document on how to read and interpret Sacred Scripture, indeed on Divine Revelation as a whole.

The Holy Father expressed concern recently that there is a real danger in some modern biblical interpretation that he believes can diminish the meaning of Sacred Scripture and erode the bond between the Bible and the Church. The substance of the Pope’s concerns are pastoral in nature, more than academic, although the two certainly converge. He wants Catholics to be enriched on a daily basis by the proper and authentic reading of the written Word of God. The Church has given us the “road map”, if you will, of just how to do this in “Dei Verbum.”

Several years ago we presented a series entitled “Word of God,” seeking to do exactly what the Holy Father has now called for. This six-part seminar synthesizes in a clear and easy way the six chapters of this landmark Church document. It will help you to better read and interpret the written Word of God as the Catholic Church reads and interprets it.

Surely one of the most important teachings we have ever produced, I know “Word of God” will help you greatly in reading and understanding the Bible as the Catholic Church does, and as the Holy Father has recently asked us to do.

THERE IS STILL A GOD IN HEAVEN!
The American people have now made it abundantly clear who they want to lead them, and the policies and practices that this president-elect has represented for some time, they can now claim as their own. Actions have consequences, and I am sure God has duly noted what our priorities are in the US of A. Economic matters would seem to take precedence over moral matters; money more important than life itself to most people (I guess they don’t consider almost 50,000,000 innocent children murdered by abortion part of life).

Now we shall see what the fruit of such a tree will be. I predict that we won’t have to wait long. In recent months we have seen “corrections” in the stock market, housing market, and banking industries. Now we’ll see if God orchestrates a “correction” in a country and a world that has demonstrated quite clearly that it prefers convenience and wealth to life itself.

Regardless of whatever happens next, remember there is still a God in Heaven and He loves you. He is infinitely merciful—and He is infinitely just as well.

God Bless You

Fr. John Corapi

See also Fr. John Corapi's Television Schedule.

The Intentions of Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for November 2008

General Prayer Intention:

"That the testimony of love offered by the saints may fortify Christians in their devotion to God and their neighbor, imitating Christ who came to serve and not to be served."

Missionary Prayer Intention:

"That the Christian communities of Asia, contemplating the face of Christ, may know how to find the most suitable ways to announce Him, in full faithfulness to the Gospel, to the people of that vast continent so rich in culture and ancient forms of spirituality."

REFLECTIONS ON POPE BENEDICT XVI'S
MONTHLY INTENTIONS

November 2008

The Apostleship of Prayer receives monthly prayer intentions from Pope Benedict XVI and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. The reflections below seek to illuminate the Holy Father's concerns.


General Intention:

Love of God and Neighbor. That the testimony of love offered by the saints may fortify Christians in their devotion to God and neighbor, imitating Christ who came to serve and not to be served.

This month Pope Benedict XVI points us to the saints of the Church, that all Christians may imitate them in their imitation of Christ. For this is the love of God and neighbor, to serve and not to be served.

Scripture is very clear on this: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us" (1 John 4: 11-12).

We pray that all Christians may be fortified in love that serves others, because any love that does not serve others isn't really love at all. The saints have shown us that there are thousands of ways to serve others, but it's the serving of others that is essential. As we faithfully serve others, we are living out the love of God, even in those times we don't feel the love.

The Feast of All Saints on November 1 puts us in mind of one we claim as our own, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. A member of the Apostleship of Prayer, Frassati was devoted to both prayer and action. He used to say, "Charity is not enough; we need social reform." He also said, "We need constant prayer to obtain from God that grace without which all our prayers are useless; organization and discipline to be ready for action at the right time; and finally, the sacrifice of our passion and of ourselves, because without that we cannot achieve our aim."

Blessed Frassati died in 1925 of polio. Many of the sick people he helped came to his funeral. May all Christians be inspired to a love that expresses itself in prayer and service.

Reflection:
In what ways has your love for God led you to serve others? Thank God for the privilege of extending his love.

Reading:
James 2:26 - Just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.


Mission Intention:

Church in Asia. That the Christian communities of Asia, contemplating the face of Christ, may find the most suitable ways to announce Him, in full faithfulness to the Gospel.

Last December Pope Benedict XVI addressed a group of Korean prelates, exclaiming: "The Church in your countries has made remarkable progress since the arrival of missionaries in the region over four hundred years ago, and their return to Mongolia just fifteen years ago."

The Holy Father attributed this growth to the "outstanding witness of the Korean Martyrs and others throughout Asia who remained steadfastly faithful to Christ and his Church."

This month he asks us to pray for the many and diverse Christian communities throughout Asia. These communities include the Philippines, Asia's most populous Catholic country; India, where Catholicism goes back to St. Thomas the Apostle; South Korea and Vietnam, where Catholics make up a surprisingly large percentage of the population; China where there are new hopes that persecution is slowly easing; Indonesia, where there are conflicts with Muslims; India, where there are conflicts with Hindus; the Middle East, where many conflicts continue; and Iraq, from which Christians are fleeing.

After visiting Asia, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe reported on Vatican Radio that the Christian minority there often lives the faith "with great enthusiasm," comparing themselves to the first Christians who set out to evangelize the world.

We are praying this month that Asian Christians may find the most suitable ways to announce Christ. We in the West must respect the ancient cultures of the East and let the Church in Asia find the best ways to spread the Gospel. After all, Christianity is a religion that transcends, rather than imposes, culture. Cultures are transformed and elevated by Christ living among the people, for the Church is his Body.

May the Holy Spirit guide those who preach and teach the faith in Asia. May this be, as Popes John Paul II and Benedict have said, the millennium for the evangelization of the East.

Reflection:
People come to know Jesus Christ in a tremendous variety of ways. How did you come to Christ? Who helped?

Reading:
Acts 20: 17-24 - I consider this life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God's grace.


Prayer of the Month

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. You are glorified in your saints, for their glory is the crowning of your gifts. In their lives on earth, you give us an example. In our communion with them, you give us their friendship. In their prayer for the Church you give us strength and protection. This great company of witnesses spurs us on to victory, to share their prize of everlasting glory. May we imitate their lives of service and daily give you all honor and glory. Amen.

The Intentions of Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for October 2008:

General Prayer Intention:

"That the Synod of Bishops may help all those engaged in the service of the Word of God to transmit the truth of faith courageously in communion with the entire Church."

Missionary Prayer Intention:

"That, faithful to the sacrament of matrimony, every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelizing community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of its brothers."

REFLECTIONS ON POPE BENEDICT XVI'S
MONTHLY INTENTIONS

October 2008

The Apostleship of Prayer receives monthly prayer intentions from Pope Benedict XVI and urges Christians throughout the world to unite in prayer for those intentions. The reflections below seek to illuminate the Holy Father's concerns.


General Intention:

Pope Benedict XVI asks us to pray for this month's Synod of Bishops as they discuss how we can use the Bible to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The goal is that Catholics will spend time reading the Bible and, by doing so, grow in knowledge and love of God in unity with the whole Church. Strong in the Word of God, we may become courageous witnesses to the world.

Jesus promised the Apostles that the Holy Spirit would lead the Church into all truth (John 15:26). The Church sees the Word of God and the Tradition of the Church as the two great sources of this truth, and it is the Church's ultimate responsibility to codify the truths of our faith. Otherwise the meaning found in the Bible becomes subjective, with readers or groups of readers interpreting the Word of God in any way they wish.

Most Protestant denominations were born of such independent readings of the scriptures. As a result most Protestants have no authority to establish the true meaning of the Bible, and their churches split and splintered thousands of times, each group claiming to have the true interpretation but with no authority to do so. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has upheld one faith.

The doctrines of the Church actually illuminate scripture. Take the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Although a triune God is clearly implied by the scriptures as a whole, especially in light of the New Testament, the doctrine of the Trinity was not proclaimed by the Church until the fourth century. That proclamation was based on scripture, at least two centuries of tradition in the Church Fathers, and the need to counter the Arian heresy denying the divinity of Jesus.

Thus, safeguarded from error, we Catholics benefit a great deal from reading the scriptures, whether we do it publicly at Mass or privately. If we hear or read the Word in a prayerful manner, we receive faith, hope, and love, grow in unity with the Church, and find new courage to proclaim the Gospel.

Reflection:
How has the bible enriched your faith? Can you think ways to increase your time reading and praying the scriptures?

Reading:
Psalm 119:97-105 - How I love your teaching, Lord! I study it all day long. Your command makes me wiser than my foes, for it is always with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, because I ponder your decrees. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.


Mission Intention

October is the month of the Rosary and the Missions. Pope Benedict asks us to pray this month that every Christian community may participate in missions through prayer, sacrifice, and concrete help. The Pope wants us to take missions seriously because he is aware of several grave threats to evangelization.

Some Christians have decided that evangelization must be modernized. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith calls it a "growing confusion" which misinterprets the "missionary command of the Lord" as a suggestion merely to present Christian ideas rather than preach repentance and Baptism into Christ. Some say that it is enough to try to help people act according to their own consciences without attempting to convert them to Christ, that it is enough to help people become more faithful to their own religions without attempting to convert them to the Catholic faith ("Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization," Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, December 2007).

But the Pope strongly contradicts these errors. In the same document cited above, we are reminded of the words of Jesus, who said, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21). By his Church, Christ wants to be present in every time and place on earth in order to reach every person so there may be "one flock and one shepherd" (Jn 10:16). "The Apostles, therefore, prompted by the Spirit, invited all to change their lives, to be converted and to be baptized. It is the same Lord Jesus Christ who, present in his Church, goes before the work of evangelizers, accompanies it, follows it, and makes their labors bear fruit: what took place at the origins of Christian history continues throughout its entire course."

The Pope calls the Church to recommit ourselves to evangelization. How shall we proceed? Let us do what the Apostles of Prayer have always done. Like St. Therese of Lisieux, who never set foot in a mission field, we direct our prayers to God on behalf of missionaries and those they seek to reach. We sacrifice our time and our money to support them. We speak to others about the importance of evangelization. We look for concrete ways to build up a missionary culture. We deeply respect the Pope's wisdom in making these requests of us.

Reflection:
The Pope stresses the word "concrete" in this intention. How have you acted in concrete ways to support the missions? What might you do this month?

Reading:
Luke 5:10 - Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

Education, Faith & America

A message from Father John Corapi (links and emphasis mine):

Education, Faith & America

In speaking with faithful Catholics all over the world for the past twenty years there is a consensus among them that the average Catholic doesn’t know much about their faith. Likewise there is an overwhelming consensus that if we did, the world would be a very different place. In the United States of America we have over sixty million Catholics. If these Catholic citizens knew their faith and then voted and lived their faith, this country would be incalculably better off. In turn, so would the entire world.

In the past few months leading up to what may prove to be the most crucial presidential election in this country’s history, it is outright frightening how many Catholics think they can vote for a pro-abortion candidate. As many of our good bishops have pointed out, under the current circumstances this is not possible. Abortion is the overridingly most important moral issue of our times, all others being important, but rendered irrelevant if the preeminent right—the right to life—is destroyed.

As Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon recently pointed out, clarifying the teaching of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops in their excellent pastoral letter "Faithful Citizenship," a candidate or office holder is disqualified from receiving the vote of a Catholic in good conscience if they hold a pro-abortion position. In other words pro-choice candidates under the current set of circumstances are disqualified because of their pro-death political positions. We cannot vote for them. As the Bishops of Kansas recently asserted in their excellent voter’s guide, "Catholics would 'commit moral evil' by voting for a candidate who supports abortion and other intrinsically evil things. Voting is a moral act, and voting for pro-choice candidates is evil in itself. One becomes a collaborator in evil by so doing. No amount of rationalization can escape this logical and moral conclusion."

There was some confusion over this based on a statement made some time ago by Pope Benedict, who was speaking in general terms, saying that for a “proportionate reason” it would be possible to vote for such candidates. However, in the concrete situation we face, with a candidate who is pro-life, this would not be possible. No amount of “other reasons” would excuse voting for a pro-choice candidate. The Church clearly teaches that life begins at conception. As Pope John Paul II stated many times, “abortion is murder.” Following logically from this, if a single abortion is murder, then 48,000,000 (the approximate number of abortions in this country since Roe v. Wade) of them is genocide. What would be the “proportionate reason” supporting such an outrage? There is none.

Lack of understanding of what the Catholic Church teaches is grossly harmful to the individual Catholic and to society in general. It is for this reason that I have always tried to promote and teach the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is a sure norm for teaching the faith, as Pope John Paul II asserted in promulgating the Catechism. “Guarding the Deposit of Faith is the mission which the Lord entrusted to His Church,” are the first words of the Apostolic Constitution "Fidei Depositum." These are the words the Holy Father used to introduce us to the Catechism.

For this reason we are making my series “The Teaching of Jesus Christ” more and more available through television, radio, and the lowest prices ever offered for DVD and CD versions. Ignorance of the Faith can prove fatal—for individuals and for nations. Learning our faith is the best investment we can make. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the very best way to do this.

May God bless you, each one, and may God bless America in this time of national crisis,

Father John Corapi

Father Corapi can be seen and heard on EWTN TV and EWTN Radio. Check the schedules for airtimes.

Five points about Mary in Pope Benedict's thought

Today is the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

To mark the occassion, John Allen has published a piece today entitle "The Marian Papacy of Benedict XVI."

The Marian Papacy of Benedict XVI
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.

By conventional standards, Jesus’ mother is not a major figure in the New Testament. Her name appears barely a dozen times; famously, Mary is mentioned more often in the Qur’an than in the Christian Bible. Yet despite that relatively low profile, few figures in Scripture have been the subject of greater controversy.

For some Protestants, Mary has long loomed as a symbol of Catholicism’s penchant for “adding” to the gospel, in this case an almost blasphemous level of devotion to a mere human being. For some feminists, veneration of Mary as both virgin and mother sets an impossible standard for women, thereby perpetuating male dominance. For many secularists, the body of miraculous lore surrounding Mary, especially her reported apparitions in various parts of the world, strains credibility in a special way.

In part, perhaps, Mary has been a lightning rod precisely because she is such a uniquely Catholic figure. Catholics share Christ, the gospels, prayer and sacrifice, even the sacraments, with many other forms of Christianity. Yet even though other Christians treasure Mary in their own ways, she is strongly associated in the popular imagination with the Catholic church.

Mary’s centrality in Catholic tradition may help explain why the last two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, have been so committed to reawakening Marian devotion in the church. For both popes, defending Catholic identity in a highly secular age has been job number one, and nothing says ‘Catholic’ quite like the Blessed Virgin Mary.

John Paul’s motto was Totus Tuus, “all yours,” a phrase from the book True Devotion to Mary by the 17th and 18th century French saint Louis de Montfort. As for Benedict XVI, so far he’s made nine foreign trips, and virtually all have pivoted on a major Marian shrine. While in Brazil, for example, Benedict went to the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida; the heart of his trip to Austria was a stop at the sanctuary of Mariazell.

Once again next week, Benedict will be at a major Marian center to mark an important occasion, in this case the 150th anniversary of the first appearance of Mary to St. Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes.

Thus for Benedict, the pilgrimage to Lourdes is not a largely obligatory act of piety, one that represents a sideshow to his session with French President Nicolas Sarkozy or his efforts to revitalize the French church. Instead, Mary is very much the beating heart of this trip – and, for that matter, of much of Benedict’s papacy.

Over the weekend, Benedict offered a preview of his message in Lourdes during a brief stop at another Marian shrine – Our Lady of Bonaria, on the Italian island of Sardinia. (Our Lady of Bonaria is the traditional patron of sailors in the Mediterranean; Spanish conquistadores named the capital of Argentina for her, Buenos Aires.)

In summary, the pope made five points about Mary in Sardinia, which are likely to surface again while he’s at Lourdes:

• Mary points to Christ, above all to his incarnation.
• Mary is a symbol of the beauty and tenderness of God.
• Mary is a forerunner and a model for all disciples of Christ.
• Mary is a model for mothers, children and spouses, and thus a patron of the family.
• Mary is the “star of the new evangelization,” a patron for efforts to bring Christ to the world.

Benedict encouraged the Sardinians to renew their Marian traditions, not merely as a matter of preserving local culture, but also because of the importance of Mary in Catholic theology and spirituality.

“The role of Mary in salvation history stands out in all its clarity: the being of Mary is totally relative to Christ, in particular to his incarnation,” Benedict said in his homily at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria. “Respecting everything human, God makes it fecund from within, causing the most beautiful fruit of his creative and redemptive work to bloom from the humble virgin of Nazareth.”

“Thus we can, once again, contemplate the place of Mary in God’s plan for salvation,” the pope said. “She is, in fact, in Christ, the summit and model of ‘those who love God.’ In the ‘here I am’ of the Son, we find a faithful echo of the ‘here I am’ of his mother, as well as the ‘here I am’ of all the adoptive children of the Son.”

In a nod to local devotion, Benedict cited a line from a Marian hymn in the Sardinian dialect: Sa Mama, Fiza, Isposa de su Segnore, referring to Mary as a mother, daughter, and spouse.

“May Mary help you to carry Christ to families, small domestic churches and the building blocks of society, which today more than ever need faith and support both on the spiritual and the social level,” the pope said.

“May Mary help you find the right pastoral strategies to help young people encounter Christ,” Benedict said. “Youth by their nature carry new energy, but are often the victims of a widespread nihilism. They are thirsty for truth and for ideals, precisely when both seem to be denied.”

Finally, Benedict urged the Sardinians to turn to Mary as a patron of efforts to evangelize the world – not just in terms of making disciples, but also bringing Christian values to society and public life.

“May she make you capable of evangelizing the world of work, of the economy, of politics,” Benedict said, “all of which today need a new generation of committed lay Christians, capable of seeking, with competence and moral rigor, solutions to sustainable development.”

Benedict’s Marian leitmotif illustrates a by-now familiar theme of his papacy.

In contrast to those who regard traditional piety and doctrine as a distraction from building a better world, Benedict insists that shoring up classic Catholic identity is not merely a means, but ultimately the only means, of fostering durable peace and justice. In the final analysis, in his view, a world without God, who is revealed in Christ, cannot be just – and Mary is the ultimate witness to Christ, as well as the role model par excellence for all who wish to follow Christ.

Like John Paul before him, Benedict XVI seems determined to lead a deeply Marian papacy. That will almost certainly be the story of his visit to Lourdes, whether or not it shows up in the headlines.

» John L Allen Jr Daily Column

The Intentions of Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for September 2008:

General Prayer Intention:

"That those who, because of wars or oppressive regimes, are forced to leave their homes and country may be supported by Christians in the defence and protection of their rights."

Missionary Prayer Intention:

"That, faithful to the sacrament of matrimony, every Christian family may cultivate the values of love and communion in order to be a small evangelizing community, sensitive and open to the material and spiritual needs of its brothers."

Catholics Against Joe Biden

By now, you probably heard the big news about how the Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has selected Senator Joe Biden as his Vice President candidate. Joe Biden is a "Catholic" in support of intrinsic evils such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research and thus goes against his faith in such matters.

A new blog has been established to provide ongoing analysis and commentary on the positions of Senator Biden at variance with clear and authoritative Catholic moral teaching. It is hoped that as a community, we will move Senator Biden and other "pro-choice Catholics" of all political parties to self-examination and greater obedience to the teachings of Christ and His Church.

The following information from the Catholics Against Joe Biden blog provides the foundation for our concern:

Why should Catholics oppose Senator Joe Biden?

Catholic Teaching on Abortion and the Obligation of Catholics in Public Life

In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae ("The Gospel of Life"), Pope John Paul II stated that

Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable. The Second Vatican Council defines abortion, together with infanticide, as an "unspeakable crime."

Regarding laws which seek to legitimize abortion, the Pope asserted that Catholics have a "grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection."

Speaking on the topic of Catholics in Political Life, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops affirm an "unequivocal commitment to the legal protection of human life from the moment of conception until natural death," stated that "the killing of an unborn child is always intrinsically evil and can never be justified," and emphasize the duty of Catholic legislators:

To make such intrinsically evil actions legal is itself wrong. This is the point most recently highlighted in official Catholic teaching. The legal system as such can be said to cooperate in evil when it fails to protect the lives of those who have no protection except the law. In the United States of America, abortion on demand has been made a constitutional right by a decision of the Supreme Court. Failing to protect the lives of innocent and defenseless members of the human race is to sin against justice. Those who formulate law therefore have an obligation in conscience to work toward correcting morally defective laws, lest they be guilty of cooperating in evil and in sinning against the common good.

Senator Joe Biden: At Odds with the Church

On August 23, 2008, it was announced that Illinois Senator Barack Obama -- a Christian politician with his own lamentable record on the "life issues" -- had selected DE Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate in the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections.

As with Senator John Kerry in 2004, Biden's prominent role as a Catholic in public service, together with his deplorable record on abortion and embryonic stem cell research (in addition to other issues), has placed the matter of the responsibilities of Catholic legislators and the reception of the Eucharist by those unworthy before the public eye.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Biden "strongly support[s] Roe v. Wade":

He said he is "prepared to accept" the Catholic Church's teaching that life begins at conception but said Roe v. Wade "is as close to we're going to be able to get as a society" to incorporating diverging religious views on the issue. Although he voted in favor of the bill to ban late-term abortions, Biden said the Supreme Court's April 2007 decision to uphold the ban was "intellectually dishonest," saying its language undermined Roe v. Wade.

Biden voted in favor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, which was vetoed by President Bush. The bill would have allowed federal funding for research on stem cell lines obtained from discarded human embryos originally created for fertility treatments.

A summary of Joe Biden's recognizably mixed record on abortion and Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) can be obtained from OnTheIssues.org; a list has also been provided by the Family Research Council.

On a positive note, Biden opposes public funding of abortion, stating on Meet The Press in 2007 that "It goes to the question of whether or not you're going to impose a view to support something that is not a guaranteed right but an affirmative action to promote."

Voted for the Partial Birth Abortion Ban: S. 1692, Partial Birth Abortion Ban, Roll Call 99-340, October 21, 1999 -- but, as the FRC points out, "He did not vote on the one that became law in the 108th Congress."

That said, Biden's general support of Roe v. Wade and a number of his specific votes on abortion and life-related issues merit the concern of Catholics:

• He voted against a ban on transporting minors across state lines for an abortion (S.403, Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, Roll Call 06-216, July 25, 2006.


• He voted against parental notification of minors who get out-of-state abortions: S.403, Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, Roll Call 06-216, July 25, 2006.


• He voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which made it a criminal offense to harm or kill a fetus during the commission of a violent crime. S.1019/H.R. 1997, Unborn Victims of Violence Act, Roll Call 04-63, March 25, 2004.


• He voted for increasing taxpayer funding for destructive embryonic stem cell experimentation: S.5/H.R. 3, Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, Roll Call 07-127, April 11, 2007.


• He voted for increasing funding to Planned Parenthood and similar clinics by $100 million: S.Amdt. 244 to S.Con.Res 18, Appropriation to expand access to preventive health care services, Roll Call 05-75, March 17, 2005.


• Voted against a ban on abortions on military bases: S. 2549, Roll Call 00-134, June 20, 2000.


• Voted against a ban on human cloning: Motion to proceed for S. 1601, Roll Call 98-10, February 11, 1998.

The FRC also points out that Senator Biden co-sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) in the 102nd and 103rd Congresses but -- in fairness -- has not done so since. FOCA would overturn hundreds of state laws on the books that limit abortion.

In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Senator Biden disputed the notion that disobedience to Catholic moral teaching placed one at odds with the Church:

"My views are totally consistent with Catholic social doctrine ... There are elements within the church who say that if you are at odds with any of the teachings of the church, you are at odds with the church. I think the church is bigger than that."

In 2007, he boasted on MSNBC: "I strongly support Roe v. Wade... That's why I led the fight to defeat Bork, Roberts Alito, and Thomas."


On the Profanation of the Eucharist by "Pro-Choice" Catholic Politicians

On the matter of dispensing communion to admittedly "pro-choice" Catholics, one can appeal to no greater an authority than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. In a 2004 memorandum -- Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles -- sent to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and Bishop Wilton Gregory:

5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

6. When "these precautionary measures have not had their effect or in which they were not possible," and the person in question, with obstinate persistence, still presents himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, "the minister of Holy Communion must refuse to distribute it" (cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Declaration "Holy Communion and Divorced, Civilly Remarried Catholics" [2002], nos. 3-4). This decision, properly speaking, is not a sanction or a penalty. Nor is the minister of Holy Communion passing judgment on the person’s subjective guilt, but rather is reacting to the person’s public unworthiness to receive Holy Communion due to an objective situation of sin.

The issue was explored at greater length by Archbishop Raymond Burke, who in 2007 published an article in the prestigious canon law journal Periodica de re Canonica, entitled: The Discipline Regarding the Denial of Holy Communion to Those Obstinately Persevering in Manifest Grave Sin.

In June 2008, Archbishop Burke was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the office of Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura (the highest tribunal of the Vatican). In a recent interview, Archbishop Burke reiterated his position that Catholics, especially politicians who publicly defend abortion, should not receive Communion:

“Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily is a sacrilege,” he warned. “If it is done deliberately in mortal sin it is a sacrilege.”

To illustrate his point, he referred to “public officials who, with knowledge and consent, uphold actions that are against the Divine and Eternal moral law. For example, if they support abortion, which entails the taking of innocent and defenseless human lives. A person who commits sin in this way should be publicly admonished in such a way as to not receive Communion until he or she has reformed his life,” the archbishop said.

“If a person who has been admonished persists in public mortal sin and attempts to receive Communion, the minister of the Eucharist has the obligation to deny it to him. Why? Above all, for the salvation of that person, preventing him from committing a sacrilege,” he added.(Source: Catholics who support abortion should not receive Communion, says Archbishop Burke Catholic News Agency. August 19, 2008).

The Catholic advocacy group Fidelis points out, Biden's former bishop, Michael Saltarelli of Wilmington has said that the issues pertaining to the sanctity of human life are the "great civil rights issues of this generation" and warned against the profanation of the Eucharist by unworthy reception:

Bishop Saltarelli denounced the notion that politicians can 'personally oppose' abortion, but refuse to pass laws protecting the unborn.

"No one today would accept this statement from any public servant: 'I am personally opposed to human slavery and racism but will not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena.' Likewise, none of us should accept this statement from any public servant: "I am personally opposed to abortion but will not impose my personal conviction in the legislative arena,” said Bishop Saltarelli.

In fact, Bishop Saltarelli made clear that pro-abortion Catholic politicians should refrain from receiving the Eucharist.

"The promotion of abortion by any Catholic is a grave and serious matter. Objectively, according to the constant teaching of the Scriptures and the Church, it would be more spiritually beneficial for such a person to refrain from receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. I ask Catholics in this position to have the integrity to respect the Eucharist, Catholic teaching and the Catholic faithful.”

Bishop Saltarelli reached the age of retirement on January 17, 2008. The Diocese of Wilmington’s new bishop, W. Francis Malooly, will be installed September 8th.


Further Reading

Vote for Real Hope and Change, by Charles J. Chaput. First Things' "On The Square" August 19, 2008. Excerpt:

"Obviously, we have other important issues facing us this fall: the economy, the war in Iraq, immigration justice. But we can’t build a healthy society while ignoring the routine and very profitable legalized homicide that goes on every day against America’s unborn children. The right to life is foundational. Every other right depends on it. Efforts to reduce abortions, or to create alternatives to abortion, or to foster an environment where more women will choose to keep their unborn child, can have great merit—but not if they serve to cover over or distract from the brutality and fundamental injustice of abortion itself. We should remember that one of the crucial things that set early Christians apart from the pagan culture around them was their rejection of abortion and infanticide. Yet for thirty-five years I’ve watched prominent “pro-choice” Catholics justify themselves with the kind of moral and verbal gymnastics that should qualify as an Olympic event. All they’ve really done is capitulate to Roe v. Wade."