The May 1 pending beatification of the late Pope John Paul II has raised a few eyebrows among some Catholics.

The lay Catholic group, The International Movement We Are Church issued a press release recently decrying the late pontiff’s beatification due to his poor handling of clergy sex abuse, which under his 27-year watch, was suppressed and in this way, they say, enabled, according to their statement.

After the pontiff’s death clergy sexual abuse was shown to be global and more prevalent than was believed. Ministry Values mentioned John Paul’s favor of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the late founder of the Legionaries of Christ who was a serial abuser and may who fathered at least one child, among many others.

Barbara Dorris, St. Louis outreach director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the beatification is like “rubbing more salt into these wounds” of victims of clergy sex abuse, Politics Daily said.

Dorris told Politics Daily, “There’s a reason we usually move slowly in honoring public figures. Often, some of their unsavory actions and inactions surface years later. That’s slowly happening with Pope John Paul II. When we honor those who ignor or conceal wrongdoing, we essentially condone wrongdoing.”

Ministry Values also said it is not yet known what John Paul knew regarding how the Vatican Bank handled the 1982 collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, and the scandal linked to it.

IMWAC also questioned in their press release John Paul’s quelling of the Liberation Theology movement, suppresseing the issue of gender equality, and failure to condone use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS (Pope Benedict XVI said in such instance, it’s a moral choice), USA Today reported.

IMWAC said, “beatification and ultimately sainthood should not be measured by whether a ‘miracle’ can be attributed to a particular person, but rather, whether someone’s life truly embodies the values of Christ who sought, not power, but the wellbeing of God’s people,” ABC News Radio reported.

A Roman Catholic qualifies for beatification if a miracle is clearly attributed to intervention by the deceased. A second miracle makes one eligible for canonization or sainthood, Politics Daily said.

Vatican medical experts and theologians affirmed that Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, was healed of Parkinson’s disease, the same sickness that John Paul had, after she prayed for his intercession on June 3, 2005, (he died in April 2005), the AP said.

Blood relic

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime aide of John Paul II, told UPI a vial of blood from the late pope will be his relic when he’s beatified. The tradition of keeping relics stems from the Middle Ages.

The vial of blood was given to Dziwisz when the pope underwent several medical tests before a tracheotomy. It will be kept in a crystal and remain on an altar at the John Paul II Institute in Krakow, UPI said.

For the first time since 1970 the Vatican has published a new Roman Missal—the book that is used by Catholics every Sunday for mass–with major revisions in its translation.

The Roman Missal, Third Edition also has prayers and guidelines on how to celebrate Sunday Mass. It was approved by the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Congregation for Divine Worship, according to the Third Edition Roman Missal website.

The original Missale Romanum in Latin was issued by Pope Paul VI in 1970. In 1973 an English translation was issued, prompted by the Second Vatican Council of 1962, which ordered that mass be said in a parish’s local language, CNN said.

Minor revisions were added in 1975 and in 2000 by Pope John Paul II including prayers for new saints, added prefaces to Communion prayers, added masses for specific needs and intentions, and updated instructions on celebrating the mass, the website said.

The Third Edition’s updated translation is expected to lend deeper meaning to the mass. It will be used on November 27, 2011 to coincide with the First Sunday of Advent, the website reported.

Benedictine Father Jeremy Driscoll of Mount Angel Abbey was an adviser to an important committee of English-speaking bishops that was convened by the Vatican, the Catholic Sentinel reported.

Driscoll told a group of priests in Oregon that the old Missal lacked the “inner voice” of the Latin version. With the new translation Driscoll factored in context, time, place where it was written, emotion, tone and pertinent vocabulary with multiple meanings, the Catholic Sentinel said.

Driscoll also said that in translating the missal they noted that the liturgy is mysterious and divine, yet with a concrete manifestation, particularly the trinity and communion, according to Catholic Sentinel.

Driscoll said while the old missal, for example, calls Jesus God’s “son” or “only son,” the Latin version is more adequately translated as “only begotten son,” lending emphasis to the fact that Jesus is “consubstantial with the Father,” the Catholic Sentinel said.

In terms of tone, Driscoll compared the Easter preface of the former, which says, “The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world while the choirs of heaven sing forever to your glory,” which pales to the new translation, the Catholic Sentinel reported.

The new preface captures the original Latin version’s exuberance, namely, “Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, every land, every people exults in your praise. And even the heavenly powers with the angelic hosts, sing together the unending hymn of your glory,” the Catholic Sentinel said.

Driscoll said the longer sentences will require that the priests be more knowledgeable of the text and say it correctly. Churchgoers will also have to be more attentive, according to the Catholic Sentinel.

According to CNN it is hoped that in the long term, the new translation will make churchgoers more appreciative and aware of the mysteries in the Liturgy. The website said the translation is important because what is prayed is directly linked to the substance of one’s faith, CNN said.

Sources:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/03/catholic-church-to-introduce-new-wording-for-sunday-mass/

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=29&ArticleID=13115

http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/index.shtml

Just days before Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Britain, thousands of tickets for open-air papal events are still unsold.

Jack Valero, spokesman of the Opus Dei in Britain complained that the British are more knowledgeable about Hollywood actor Paul Newman than they are about Cardinal John Henry Newman, a former Anglican who converted to Catholicism and who will be beatified during the pope’s four-day visit, The Telegraph said.

So far, only £6.2 m ($9.65 m) has been raised out of an estimated cost of £10 m ($15.5 m) for the religious aspect of the pope’s visit. Even worse, taxpayers will foot the bill of some £12 m ($18.5 m) for state-related events including a reception hosted by the Queen and stringent security requirements for the pope, The Telegraph reported.

Valero still insists the pope’s visit is a “great coup” that will lend prestige to the British government. He had earlier predicted that the cities where the pope will visit, namely London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Edinburgh would gain huge revenue with the large crowds that would come, according to The Telegraph.

The pope will start off by visiting Scotland on Thursday where he will be welcomed by the Queen and senior politicians at Holyroodhouse Palace, The Telegraph said.

This will be followed by an open-air Mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. However, because of the number of unsold tickets, the capacity was lowered down to just 80,000, ITN said. In 1982, Pope John Paul II appeared there to a crowd of 300,000, The Telegraph reported.

On Saturday, tickets are believed to have approximated capacity for a prayer vigil at Hyde Park, London. But the highlight of the visit, the Sunday beatification of Cardinal Newman in Cofton Park, Birmingham is estimated to reach only 50,000, or half of what had been planned, according to The Telegraph.

Dioceses in England and Wales have not given hopeful reports, ITN said. It may be because of the price of £25 ($38.57) per ticket. An added difficulty is that the beatification service requires riding on coaches scheduled to leave parishes before dawn, The Telegraph said.

This would mean that people would have to leave their homes as early as 2 a.m. so that they can get a seat to the venue. Officials speculate that the inconvenience, rather than the cost of tickets, is why the beatification may have a poor attendance, ITN reported.

Valero said Cardinal Newman, a Victorian theologian, should be highlighted for his legacy and his story of conversion to inspire Britons and unify the Church of England and Roman Catholicism, The Telegraph said.

Valero noted that Newman was an Anglican for 44 years, and a Catholic for 45. He died at the age of 89. “He is very popular with everyone – Anglicans, Catholics, even gays like him because they say he was homosexual,” Valero told The Telegraph

Newman’s sexuality was a great subject of speculation. He shared a dwelling with lifelong friend Father Ambrose St. John, and when he died in 1890, he was buried alongside St. John near Birmingham, The Telegraph reported.

Valero said Newman kept his vow of celibacy. “[But] we don’t know what went on in his mind and heart but the fact that he had close friendships with men does not imply that he was homosexually inclined,” Valero told The Telegraph.

Last year, Anglican traditionalists who were disenchanted with Canterbury over the issue of female clergy were embraced by the Vatican, who welcomed them to their fold. Valero told The Telegraph, “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue in this trip. It’s not as if the Pope is coming over to claim his people and park his tanks in the gardens of Lambeth Palace.”

While acknowledging that Britain is now a largely secular nation, Valero suggested that tens of thousands will line the streets to see Benedict in his Popemobile rather than attend some of the events, The Telegraph said.

A new study shows that the ‘global south’ is gaining more power in Christianity and may redefine Christian culture in the 21^st century.

The study by Oxford Analytica says that church leaders from the global south, namely Africa, Latin America and Asia, are becoming more outspoken and have gained more influence in Protestant and Catholic churches globally, according to their website.

The study also notes that the global south is more traditional, and has been outspoken against liberals and progressives in both churches, their website says.

The global south shift is being referred to by mission circles as “reverse-mission agenda,” Forbes says. They note that more missionaries are coming from India, Latin America and Africa, and are heading to Europe.

The global south is also becoming more active in South Asia and the Middle East. Of note too is that many church leaders from the U.S. and Europe come from the south, and are forming the laity and clergy of Methodists, Lutheran, Episcopal and Catholic churches, Forbes said.

Because of this, the global south is becoming a stronger voice on a number of church issues, and are taking a more traditional stance, Forbes said.

For example, among the British Anglicans, in 2005 an open letter was issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury from 14 southern members of the General Synod calling for action against the ordaining of priests who are openly gay, Forbes said.

Also cited in the study was harsh criticism from Catholics in Africa, Latin America and Asia when Pope Benedict XVI replaced Pope John Paul II after he died. The study noted that the global south argued for a southern pope, as they now comprise the majority in the world Catholic community, Forbes said.

The study suggests that more traditional views may come to pass on issues of homosexuality and abortion; and that the direction of the spread of Christianity now seems to be coming from the global south to the north, Forbes said.
The study also notes that while the church in North America seems to be in decline, a reversal is possible as more missionaries and immigrants move north from Latin America, and most especially from Brazil, Forbes said.

Noted too is the dramatic growth of Christianity in China, which has a higher church membership than that of the Party, and which exceeds the growth of other sects and religions. According to Forbes, these shifts will also influence the north’s political agenda and may alter Chinese Western relations.

The Roman Catholic Church announced recently that Cuba promised to release 52 political prisoners and will allow them to exile to another country.

If they keep their promise this would be the largest mass liberation in the island since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1998.

Raúl_Castro

That year, some 299 inmates, including 100 dissidents, were released. The move could also help soften relations between Cuba and the United States, the AP said.

The agreement was brokered by Havana’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega who, along with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, met with Bruno Rodriguez, who is the Cuban counterpart of Moratinos, and Cuban president Raul Castro, the AP said.

Raul Castro is the brother of Fidel Castro, 83, who is ailing and has been out of public view for nearly four years.

It is believed that the ailing dictator gave his approval, the Washington Post said. Under the agreement Cuba promised that five of the prisoners will be released to Spain as soon as possible, while the remaining 47 will be released over a period of up to four months. However when Moratinos left for Spain, no freed prisoners were with him, the AP said.

Cuba’s Catholic Church has emerged as a major political force in the country, albeit with government consent. Last May Ortega parlayed the lifting of a prohibition that forbade wives and mothers of political prisoners from street marches.

The government also transferred 12 political prisoners to jails that were closer to their families and provided medical care. One detainee, paraplegic Ariel Sigler, was freed, the AP said. The church also played a strong role in relieving tensions that occurred after activist Orlando Zapata Tamayo died in prison from a hunger strike—the first to do so in 40 years, the AP said.

Some felt that Cuba needed to change its stance on human rights to better its international relations, the AP said. Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the Cuban Commission for Human Rights said the move was a cosmetic political decision to raise Cuba’s international stance for the short term, the Washington Post said.

Jose Miguel Vivanco of Washington’s Human Rights Watch said, “That doesn’t mean we are going to congratulate a government that has decided to put people in prison who shouldn’t have been in prison in the first place. These are people whose crime is that they disagreed with the government,” the Washington Post said.

Sarah Stephens, who heads the Center for Democracy in Washington applauded the Cuban Catholic church and said that the pending release of the 52 political prisoners shows that more is accomplished by engagement than by an embargo that has been ongoing for some 50 years, the AP said.

The prisoners set for release were all part of some 75 activists, journalists and community organizers who were arrested in a crackdown in March 2003. Laura Pollan, whose husband Hector Maceda was among them, said she was pleased but expressed doubt that Cuba will release as many prisoners as they had promised. She said, “It won’t be the first time that they lie,” the AP reported.

Of the original 75 some were exiled, others freed for reasons of health, and still others let go after they finished their terms. Of the remaining 52, many were charged with conspiring with the U.S. to destabilize Cuba’s government, the AP said.

The names of the prisoners set for release have not yet been disclosed. One prisoner, freelance journalist Guillermo Farinas, has been on a hunger strike since February to protest Tamayo’s death and demand freedom for several political prisoners. Farinas recently had a near fatal blood clot in his neck, the AP said.

The State Department’s Virginia Staab said, “We would view prisoner releases as a positive development, but we are seeking further details to confirm the facts,” the AP said.