Tuesday, March 29, Third Week in Lent
BLESSED LODOVICO DA CASORIA (Italy, 1814-1885)
Franciscan, Founder of Gray Brothers and Gray Sisters
Born Arcangelo Palmentieri near Naples, he was a cabinet-maker before
he joined the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1832. His first assignment was
to teach chemistry, physics and math in Franciscan schools. In 1847,
he underwent a mystical experience which he called 'a cleansing', after
which he dedicated himself to charitable work with such energy that one
biography calls him 'a cyclone of charity'. Specifically he set up schools
and institutions to serve the poor, children and the elderly. In 1859, he
set up the Gray Brothers (Frati Bigi) from members of the Franciscan Third
Order to carry out this work, and a few years later, the Gray Sisters (Suore
Bigie). He was beatified in 1993.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032911.shtml
OR for 3/28-3/29/11:
This double issue reports on the Holy Father's visit to the Fosse Ardeatine on Sunday, with an editorial (translated and posted earlier on this page); his Angelus appeal for an end to the use of arms in Libya; and the audience yesterday morning for Chrysostomos II, Orthodox Primate of Cyprus. Page 1 international news: Radioactivity from Fukushima continues to increase; the Syrian government promises to end 50-year 'state of emergency' but street protests continue; Turkey proposes to mediate in Libya. In the inside pages, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union has its third regional electoral defeat this year in Baden-Wuerttemberg where the anti-nuclear energy Green Party for the first time gains 25% of teh vote, topping the socialists; and major excerpts from Cardinal Bagnasco's opening address to the spring meeting of the Italian bishops' Permanent Council in Rome.
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
- No events announced for the Holy Father.
- The Vatican released the text of the Pope's letter to Latin American and Caribbean bishops meeting in Bogota
this week to discuss pastoral ministry in defense of life and the family.
- The Press Office announced a news conference on April 5 led by the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini,
to discuss the preparations and program for the beatification of John Paul II.
Oregon Jesuit province to pay
$166 million to abuse victims
PORTLAND, Ore., March 28 (CNS) -- The Oregon province of the Society of Jesus has agreed to pay $166.1 million to about 500 people abused by Jesuit priests at schools in the Pacific Northwest in past decades. Most of the abuse took place from the 1950s to the 1980s, but some of the cases date back to the late 1940s.
The claims were primarily from Alaska natives and Native Americans who said they were abused as children by priests at the order's schools in remote Alaskan villages and U.S. Indian reservations. The Portland-based province serves Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
The settlement, which is part of the Oregon province's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, was announced March 25 in Portland. The province also agreed to publicize the names of the abusers, issue a written apology to victims, and provide personal and medical records of about
140 priests and brothers accused.
Under the terms of the settlement, the province will pay $48.1 million. The order's insurer will pay $118 million and about $6 million will be reserved for any future claims.
Jesuit Father Patrick Lee, provincial superior, said in a March 25 statement that because of the province's current bankruptcy status and "out of respect for the judicial process and all involved," he would not comment on the settlement announcement. "The province continues to work with the creditors committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible," he said.
Oh how the hoity-toity have fallen! Although I had personal experience of many excellent Jesuits in my hometown where they ran the school my brother attended, as well as at university where my Student Catholic Action chaplains were Jesuits, I have always resented the holier-even-than-the-Pope attitude that many Jesuits worldwide have arrogantly propagated in the years since Vatican-II, exemplified by the Jesuits who run Georgetown University and America and Commonweal magazines, and many more questionable 'Catholic' institutions of learning in the US. Thank God for the 'good Jesuits' like Fathers Schall, Fessio and Oakes!...
When the current Jesuit superior-general was installed 2-3 years ago, the burden of his inaugural addrtess was that his long experience in Japan, in effect, equipped him better to deal with the problems of teh Church than the Vatican... In short, I resent and regret all the indications of how prominent contemporary Jesuits have been betraying the ideals of their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, oarticularly the fourth vow he added of 'obedience to the Supreme Pontiff. - even if it specifies "in all matters regarding missions" - and more so, the saint's 18 rules for 'thinking with the Church' (sentire cum ecclesia) in his Spiritual Exercises, which were intended for all Christians, not just the Jesuits.
Particularly apropos with respect to Jesuit progresive dissent is Rule #13:
That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity with the Church herself, if she shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black. For we must undoubtedly believe, that the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of the Orthodox Church His Spouse, by which Spirit we are governed and directed to Salvation, is the same...
-Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/03/2011 23:18]