Traditional Latin Mass in Maryland

The March 2009 edition of Catholic World Report carries an editorial penned by George Neumayr entitled, " Pouncing on a Papal Blunder. The opportunistic criticism of Pope Benedict over the SSPX controversy ." The editorial is a MUST READ . Note that it appears in a shorter format on the Ignatius Insight Scoop Blog.

Phil Lawler of Catholic World News posts a very good roundup of where things now stand as far as anyone can determine who is not on the "inside ." Personally, I have not stopped praying that the request of the Holy Father for normalization will occur. I am presuming the time-honored maxim whether accurate or not: "those who know aren't speaking, and those who are speaking don't really know." May God grant us reconciliation, and may Bishop Fellay respond in a favorable way to a simple request from the Vicar of Christ.

Update : An update to this story was posted by Carl Olson on his blog on April 1st. The posted email and ensuing discussion can be found here . The April 2008 edition of Catholic World News carries an important story by Professor Germain Grisez on CRS . Here is just a small snippet from the Carl Olson blog : The Church never acts on her own in carrying on Jesus’ mission. Jesus is always with her when she preaches and teaches, administers the sacraments, and does charitable works. Thus, she fulfills his command to spread the Gospel and makes him really present, manifesting his love to each of his brothers and sisters in every nation until the end of time. When Catholic charitable agencies properly feed the hungry or provide health care, those who receive help meet Jesus, learn how much he offers, and are given a new opportunity—perhaps a unique one—to respond to his love and share in his kingdom.In 1943, the bishops of the United States established Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to ...

Ignatius Insight Scoop has a link to a thought-provoking essay written by Russell Shaw in the February, 2008 edition of "The Catholic World Report ." The essay is in the form of a letter to those planning the visit of Pope Benedict XVI within the United States in April, 2008. The essay is directed mostly to the U.S. Bishops. Here are two snippets from this essay: You might, for example, tell the Holy Father something like this: There are two radically different versions of how things are now in the Catholic Church in America. Call them "We're doing okay" and "We're in desperate trouble." Professor James D. Davidson of Purdue University is a well-informed, urbane spokesman for we're-doing-okay. Davidson, a sociologist, has studied religion in America for many years, and much of his work has focused on the Catholic Church. According to news reports, he said in a recent talk that media coverage that emphasizes Catholics ignoran...