Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

Catholic World News has an incredibly insightful article on the message conveyed by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, to the French Hierarchy . This is an excellent story and a MUST read. Reading between the lines, the full story emerges. Here is a snippet: Reading between the lines, it seems clear that the Pope was sending a message to French bishops, and others who have resisted implementation of the motu proprio . Even by their own standards, he was saying, they should "tolerate" the liturgical form that many faithful Catholics embrace. "There is no opposition between the liturgy renewed by Vatican II and this liturgy," the Pontiff assured his in-flight press conference. Thus there is no reason for hostility toward the extraordinary form. If that message was conveyed subtly during the Pope's trip toward Paris, it was delivered quite explicitly on Sunday when the Holy Father addressed the members of the French hierarchy in a meeting at Lourdes. Noting that...

Catholic World News is reporting that "Sheik Ahmad Badereddine Hassoun, the grand mufti of Syria, told reporters that he hoped the Pope would visit "in the footsteps of St. Paul." He volunteered to travel to Rome to help the Pontiff prepare for such a trip." Interesting!

Catholic World News confirms previous stories on the new English translation but adds an important point: At the Consecration, the priest will refer to Christ's blood which is "poured out for you and for many"-- an accurate translation of pro multis -- rather than "for all" in the current translation . Laus Deo!!

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Catholic World News online (CWN) reports that the American magazine Catholic Response has published an English translation of a provocative article, originally published in the official Vatican newspaper, calling for an end to the practice of receiving Communion in the hand. Read the CWN post here .

I am indebted to that delightful curmudgeon, Diogenes , who posts the Off the Record column on Catholic World News for pointing me to this beautiful essay by Amy Wellborn . She begins by recounting the story that appeared recently on the habit of the Holy Father of speaking extemporaneously to the faithful gathered for his General Audiences . She then ties this in beautifully with his coming trip to the United States: Here is what is important to me about this. It is not the Pope’s intelligence, or even the still-lively and absorbing mind of a man in his 80’s. It is that what Benedict is moved to break from the text and emphasize is the reality of Jesus Christ for you and me, today, in this moment. Over the next two months, before the Pope arrives in our country, there is going to be a constant battle, it seems to me, to communicate clearly and authentically what this man is all about. There are a great number of commentors - even Catholic commentors - who are taking the stage wi...

Ignatius Insight Scoop has a post by Carl Olson that summarizes a fascinating and yet sobering article by Jeff Ziegler on religious vocations in the United States . The post is a summary of an article from Catholic World Report which is very in-depth. In culling through the article, one paragraph jumps out and it was mentioned by several commentators on the Insight Scoop blog: Echoing the comments of other bishops and vocation directors, Paterson's Bishop Serratelli tells CWR , "God has been good to us. In the last three years, we have earnestly begged him for an increase of vocations. We instituted a pastoral initiative in all the parishes on all vocations, with a special emphasis on priesthood and the consecrated life… We have encouraged prayer by everyone, especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Where Jesus is loved and adored in the Eucharist, vocations follow ." That sort of makes sense, doesn't it? If we all kneel before Jesus in the Holy Eucharist a...

Father Z. on WDTPRS says that Phil Lawler "nails it" with this article on Catholic World News . Here is a bit to let you see for yourself: If you read about the ceremony in the secular media, you almost certainly read that the Pope had "his back to the people." While that description is not inaccurate, it is reflects a distinct perspective. You could just as well observe that the Holy Father and the other worshipers in the Sistine Chapel were "facing in the same direction." When the priest-celebrant faces the altar, he looks like what he is: the leader of a community at prayer. Everyone is facing the same way; everyone is involved in the same action. When the priest faces the people, on the other hand, he appears to be a performer, with the people as his audience. The liturgical changes of Vatican II were intended to encourage more active participation by the laity in the Eucharistic liturgy. But think of any other situation in which one man faces a grou...

Catholic World News is reporting a more detailed report on the story of December 30th by Rorate Caeli on the clarifications which will be handed down by the Ecclesia Dei Commission: Vatican, Dec. 31, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican will soon issue a new document clarifying the terms of Summum Pontificum, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone (bio - news) has revealed. Confirming reports that have circulated around Rome in recent weeks, the Vatican Secretary of State told the Italian weekly Famiglia Cristiana that the Ecclesia Dei commission will issue instructions to "clarify the criteria for the application of the motu proprio" in which Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) broadened access to the traditional Latin Mass. Cardinal Bertone said that the new document was needed because there have been some "confused reactions" to the motu proprio. In fact some Vatican officials-- most notably Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship-- have energe...