Mexican (Catholic) bishop faces backlash for con-celebrating Eucharist with Anglican female cleric

A retired Mexican bishop has provoked widespread controversy after he celebrated the Eucharist with an Anglican female minister at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

On the 26 August, Bishop Emeritus Raúl Vera López of Saltillo presided at Mass in the basilica with Rev Emilie Teresa Smith, a Canadian Anglican minister, standing beside him as a concelebrant. During the liturgy, Ms Smith, wearing a stole (a liturgical vestment), joined in parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, whispered words of consecration, raised her hand in blessing and elevated the chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ.

The Mass was recorded and published on the bishop’s own Facebook page, where it quickly gained attention. In a post accompanying the video, the bishop invited viewers to “reflect together” on the Gospel of the day, quoting the words of Christ in St Matthew’s Gospel condemning hypocrisy and spiritual blindness.

He described Ms Smith as one “who walks among us picking up the word of many people around finding solutions to the climate crisis we live in".

The event caused shock among Catholics both in Mexico and internationally, with many describing the event as sacrilegious. Critics of the bishop's actions said that the presence of a female Anglican minister at the altar during the Eucharist is a clear violation of Catholic teaching on both the ordained priesthood and intercommunion with non-Catholics.

The bishop emeritus attempted to defend his actions with a second Facebook post: he recounted how, after Mass on the following day, he had been questioned by journalists about whether canonical sanctions might follow. Bishop Vera explained that Ms Smith was a fellow co-chair of the international solidarity network SICSAL, who was passing through Coahuila on route to the COP 30 environmental summit and had accepted his invitation to take part in the Mass at the basilica.

He dismissed accusations of sacrilege, heresy and indiscipline as “common sense” misunderstandings, noting that Ms Smith had long been active in human rights and pastoral work, with experience as a parish minister and theologian.

“Not only does she work with the poor, she has a parish, has a theological background, she is a writer, she is ready to participate in a meeting of the United Nations and with God’s people around the defence of our Mother Earth,” he wrote. He also praised her homily as “excellent”.

“We are no longer in witch hunts and bonfire times,” the bishop also said in his Facebook post. “The word of our sister Emilie gives us light, life and guidance as Laudato Si’ asks for all the people of this planet.”

Read the rest here.

HT: Dr. Tighe

Catholic Priest Arrested Following Altercation During Communion

This is just bizarre and is getting a lot of coverage. Not surprisingly, most of the reports in the mainstream press/media are omitting important details. The woman was clearly behaving disruptively and attempted to forcibly take the sacrament when the priest, quite rightly, refused to commune her. 

Catholic Priest Disciplined for Allowing Sacrilegious Music Video Shoot in Church

A Catholic priest was relieved of his duties for granting singer Sabrina Carpenter permission to shoot a music video at his Brooklyn church.

The Diocese of Brooklyn removed Monsignor Jamie J. Gigantiello from his post  at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish following backlash for Carpenter’s “Feather” music video, which came out on Oct. 31. The Catholic News Agency was the first to report his ouster.

The gory yet girly “Feather” video is bookended by funeral-inspired scenes filmed at the Williamsburg house of worship.

In the video, cameras follow Carpenter as she leads men into traffic, stirs up a bloody gym brawl and traps someone in an elevator to their apparent death.

Afterwards, Carpenter dons a short black tulle dress and lace veil as she skips up and down the center aisle, and dances in front of the pastel-adorned altar surrounded by softly-colored coffins.

It ends with Carpenter, a former Disney Channel star, driving away from the church in a hot pink hearse.

Read the rest here.

Sacrilegious theft

A more than century-old church artifact worth $2 million was stolen from its New York City sanctuary, authorities said, in a brazen break-in that local Catholic leaders called a crime of "disrespect and hate."

A tabernacle made of 18-carat gold and decorated with jewels had been housed at St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn before someone stole it at some point between Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Police are "investigating a brazen crime of disrespect and hate," according to statement by the Brooklyn Diocese.

To remove the tabernacle, thieves had to cut through a metal protective casing. Statues of angels were left decapitated and destroyed from the heist.

St. Augustine was closed for construction at the time of the theft and camera recordings from the security system were also stolen, the church said. The stolen tabernacle dates back to the church’s opening in the 1890s.

There had been no arrests or other significant developments by Tuesday morning, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Erin Thompson, who teaches art crime at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, fears jewels from the stolen tabernacle have already been removed for sale and the rest of the artifact has been melted down for its gold.

"I would be very surprised if we ever see the tabernacle again," Thompson said Tuesday.

Read the rest here.

Episcopal cathedral in San Francisco to host “Requiem Mass: A Queer Divine Rite”

“Requiem Mass: A Queer Divine Rite” will have its San Francisco premiere on Nov. 16 & 17 at Grace Cathedral. The piece is an evening-length choral work by singer-composer Holcombe Waller, created to honor those who have suffered persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender expression. “Requiem Mass” is presented by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in collaboration with Grace Cathedral’s Ghiberti Foundation.

“‘Requiem Mass: A Queer Divine Rite’ is a radical appropriation of a European, patriarchal tradition, the formal Latin Mass, which we reinterpret through the lens of the marginalized LGBTQ experience,” Holcombe Waller told the Bay Area Reporter. “In many ways, the result is like an alternate universe in which the millennia of queer leadership in communities of faith have been out all along, shining their example of loving equity across all people. This is what the piece seeks to dream into being.”

Waller said that it was the Mormon and Catholic Churches’ support for Proposition 8, the California ballot measure of a decade ago that sought to define marriage as between one man and one woman, that inspired him to create the work.

Read the rest here.

Yet again, I will ask the question. Why in His name do we still recognize the baptisms of these pagans?

Large cross on Greek island destroyed because it could be ‘offensive to Muslim migrants’

The ancient mythical Greek island of Lesbos is today better known as anchorage ground for human traffickers and the problems and conflicts that have arisen in connection with the boat traffic.

It is now reported that a large cross monument on the Greek Orthodox Christian island has been levelled to the ground. This after a group claiming to promote intercultural coexistence argued that the cross could be perceived as offensive to the predominantly Muslim boat migrants.

The cross monument was built on the cliffs of Apellia, beneath the castle of Mytilene, in memory of people who have died in the sea. According to the local coexistence group, however, the cross was offensive because many who have drowned, and many migrants on the island are not Christians.

The local newspaper on the island reports that the group has also received support from some aid organisations that expressed similar negative opinions about the cross-shaped memorial monument.

A letter was sent to the Island’s port minister and mayor, in which the coexistence group claimed that the cross was placed there to prevent migrants from swimming.

The letter stated that the initiators of the monument were “aspiring crusaders” with racist and intolerant motives who abused the Christian cross, which should be a symbol of love and sacrifice. And they therefore called for the monument to be demolished.

And that was what happened. Just a few days later, at night, the whole monument was levelled to the ground. The demolished remains of the cross remain as rubble on the site

The attack by the coexistence group on the monument and the demolition of it has aroused strong reactions in large parts of the local population who believe that the deed goes against the Christian religious beliefs shared by a majority of the inhabitants of the Island.

Source

Fundamentalist Protestants Disrupt Catholic Mass

Episcopal Church to Host Dinner Celebrating Abortion

St. James Episcopal Church will celebrate 42 years of abortion with Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri on January 22, 2015 for their Chili for Choice. 

Read the rest here.

The Episcopal "Church" is simply apostate. It is not a Christian body and it is time to say this frankly. All of the Orthodox jurisdictions need to stop sucking up to these pagan child killers and terminate any so-called ecumenical dialogue. Further we need to stop recognizing their sacraments, yes including baptisms. I would sooner accept Mormon baptisms as potentially Christian (they are not). It is time for us to stop living in the land of make believe.

A Succession of Sacrileges

A few news items getting scant attention in the last few days from the mainstream press and media...

President Obama's allies in Syria sacked and burned the Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. And in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood has similarly attacked and destroyed a number of Coptic Orthodox churches.

And here in the good old US of A two homosexual men had a fake wedding in a fake church, copying at least some pieces of the Orthodox wedding service. Predictably they are now announcing that theirs was the first gay Greek Orthodox wedding.

Lord have mercy!

An Episcopal Iconostasis

In case there remained any doubt. See also the favorable write up at the The Episcopal Cafe. Every time I think I have reached a point where I am impervious to any further shock from them, they prove me wrong. Words fail me.

HT: Bob Koch

Vandal(s) chop down Glastonbury Tree

As has been widely reported on the web a tree that according to a pious tradition was originally planted by St. Joseph of Arimanthea in Glastonbury England was discovered chopped down today. The tree was a popular attraction for both tourists and Christian pilgrims. The tree was said to blossom each year at Christmas and on Easter. A venerable custom has seen thorns from the tree sent the table of The Queen for Christmas dinner. Thorns were removed yesterday and sent to the palace.

At the risk of sounding less than charitable I am pretty much in agreement with VSO on this one. (Caution strong language at the linked site.) The general public should not be obliged to support the perpetrator(s) in jail. Those responsible should be taken to the public pillory and given a good dozen strokes with a cane and then clapped in the stocks for a few days so people can walk by and throw rotten vegetables and the like at them.

Roman Catholic Cathedral converts crypt into a night club

ROME—The crypt of the Basilica di San Carlo al Corso near St. Peter's Square has boasted tombs of cardinals for centuries. Today it is taking on a livelier vibe.

Rev. Maurizio Mirilli, head of youth ministry in Rome's Catholic Church, has converted a section of the crypt into a nightclub with a live-music stage and a bar stocked with beer, Prosecco and other wine. Father Mirilli has christened the new watering hole GP2, short for "Giovanni Paolo II," as the late Polish pope was known in Italian.

For Rome's young and restless, GP2 is the prime destination for mingling, dancing or having "a drink with a bishop," Father Mirilli said Saturday night. He he leaned against the club's mirrored bar and nursed a glass of pineapple juice as a phalanx of young men with gelled hair bobbed their heads to the Black Eyed Peas. Scrawled across the bar was a biblical passage from the Gospel of St. John, quoting Jesus Christ: "Give me a drink." (Actually, he was referring to water).

"There should be more places like this," said Annalisa Gennaro, a 21-year-old theology student, as she and a friend made their way into the club. "It's about time the church woke up."

Read the rest here.
H/T Rorate Caeli

Doves, roses mark blessing of Quran at Sacramento Catholic Cathedral

As 18 doves flew into the skies over the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament Saturday night, more than 100 diverse Sacramentans blessed copies of the Quran with roses of love.

Again and again they uttered the refrain, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" at the entrance to the downtown church framed by white statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. A musician with a white guitar accompanied them.

Representatives of Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, B'hai, Mormon, Sikh, Vedic Druid and Muslim beliefs read scriptures from the great religious texts - including six verses from the Quran calling for all faiths to live in harmony.

Irfan Haq, speaking on behalf of Sacramento's Muslims, told the rose bearing crowd outside the cathedral, "On this day September 11 - this day of infamy and darkness - what we are witnessing is a new beginning for Sacramento, for America - this is the America the world needs to see."

Instead of the image of burning Qurans suggested by Florida Pastor Terry Jones, "Today we saw the great faiths of the world and they blessed to the Quran ... Indeed, blessed are the peacemakers," said Haq, who read a prayer from St. Francis of Assisi: "Oh God make me an instrument of your peace ... Where there is hatred let me sow love!"

Michael Hunter, who with his wife Laura brought roses from Roseville to place roses on the Qurans, said this was a good way on the anniversary of 9-11 to promote "healing and peace among all religions."

Father Anthony Garibaldi of St. Francis Church said the blessing of the Quran tonight "needs to be done - on a human level you don't desecrate other peoples' holy objects. I wouldn't want my Bible burned.

Dr. Sajad Janmohamed, a Shiia Muslim scholar from Folsom, said Muslim here reacted with shock and disbelief at the idea of burning Qurans, but noted, "the Quran is not something that can be burned - like Jesus, it is a living thing in the lives of believers - it comforts them through moments of bereavement and hardship. If you destroy all the Qurans we know it by heart and we can chant it."

Darshan Singh Mundy of the Sikh temple and a member of Sacramento's interfaith community, which organized the peace rally, said Saturday night's ecumenical blessing was "the right response."

Source
Hat Tip: Rorate Caeli

Update: See this note posted on Rorate from the rector of the cathedral.

Some perspective

Image via the Young Fogey

The xenophobic hysteria which seems to be sweeping the country lately (or at least the internet) is frankly more than a little disturbing. To whit I think the Florida pastor planning on burning the Quran is a selfish obnoxious idiot who doesn't seem to care that his grandstanding could get people hurt or killed. Yes, the overwhelming majority of Muslims are no more violent than ordinary Christian Americans. But just as we have our psuedo Christian violent groups (the KKK, Aryan Nation etc.) they have theirs. However there are people who are enthusiastically cheering him on. So let me pose the question...

What is the objective?

Are we going to convert any Muslims by burning their sacred book? Who knows. But I will simply note that in my entire life I have never once met anyone, or even heard of anyone, converted by insulting them.

If conversion (which is the ultimate commission we all have as Christians) is not the objective, then what exactly is it? Is it simply intended to insult or strike back at 1.6 billion people who this man perceives are his enemies? If so, where does Scripture command us to return evil for evil (granting for the sake of argument that all Muslims are in fact our enemies)? Is it his intention to declare a sort of Holy War against Islam and all Muslims? And if so, who exactly gave him the authority to do that? Clearly 99% of the Muslim world does not see itself as being at war with us, although many of them have profound religious differences with us, something that I fully reciprocate.

Long time readers of this blog will note that I have been a frequent and severe critic of Islam. But that is a far cry from condoning an act that will be seen as deliberate sacrilege. Many of the same people who are cheering this man on have been appalled when in the past someone of another, or no religious faith acquired a piece of consecrated Communion from an Orthodox or more usually a Catholic Church and desecrated it. I respectfully submit that this is no different except in our obvious differences in identifying the sacred.

Finally, we are clealry commanded to do all things in love. Where is the love in this act? If someone is going to contend that this is motivated in some way by love and charity you are going to have a tough sell here. I see only malice and hatred.

As an American who has no wish to see the government interfere in matters of religion (that is a slippery slope), I respect his right to burn the Quran. As I have said many times, in America everyone has an absolute right to be a damn fool, even an obnoxious damn fool. Just as I have the right to let them know that they are fools. But I do think it is sad when some poor kid trying to get money for college might have to take a bullet in order to protect that fool's rights. They do not constitute even an insignificant percentage of the world's Muslim population. But yes, there are dangerous fanatics with guns who will take it upon themselves to return this gesture with violence.

Australia: A Greek Orthodox Church is vandalized and burned

Children allegedly set alight a Trent Road church last week, just 30 metres from Port Augusta’s fire station.

Two 13-year-old girls were arrested at the scene, while two boys, aged 15 and 12, were later charged as well.

The four have been bailed to appear in court at a later date.

According to MFS senior fire fighter Gary Gliddon, the Greek Orthodox Church of St John was deliberately set on fire at about 9.30am on Friday, with fire crews quick on the scene and able to control the blaze within 15 minutes.

Mr Gliddon said when crews arrived and gained entry to the building, it was clear that the church had been trashed prior to the fire being started.

“Fire crews went in with breathing apparatus on and extinguished the flames, but they noticed some extensive damage inside due to vandalism, so obviously it’s been seen that someone had already entered the building,” he said.

Police reported later in the day there was extensive damage done to the inside of the church, where the blaze was lit, with the damage bill at about $75,000.

A spokesman for the Greek Orthodox South Australian Archdiocese said although the community used the church sparingly, it would be repaired.

“We are trying to get someone up there to have a look at the damage, but of course, we’ll rebuild it for sure,” he said.

Source

Mass in San Francisco

Read this first. WARNING: Some of the pictures are disturbing.

I saw the pictures before I read the text of the report. (I refuse to post them on this website.) My first thought was "nothing new here, just the Episcopalians doing their thing." Then I read the report and I have to confess my astonishment. Yes. It is well known that the Roman Church has some bishops who are a little sketchy in terms of their adherence to what comes from Rome. But this is beyond the pale. I really don't want to sound like I am picking on my former co-religionists. The overwhelming majority of RCC bishops (even most of the sketchy ones) would not be OK with this. But still...

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

I mean really... What was the man thinking? I know that one of the Latin Church's alleged advantages I am repeatedly reminded of is that they have the Pope to maintain some sort of discipline. I will be very interested to see what comes of this sacrilege. In Orthodoxy we don't have the centralized chain of command that exists in the Western Church and yes we have our share of problems. But I can tell you that it is inconceivable that something like this could happen in an Orthodox church. In the unimaginable circumstance that a bishop did do something like this; I think he would be called on the carpet very quickly by the Holy Synod.

Forget the Pope in Rome. I will be most interested in any reaction from his fellow bishops here in America. Is that the sound of crickets I hear?

On a related note this sort of thing does not help the ongoing efforts by Pope +Benedict XVI aimed at restoring communion with Orthodoxy. Ignoring for the moment the very real theological issues dividing us, most Orthodox see this and shudder. 'What further evidence do we require, that the time has not yet come to restore communion with the Latins?' It is a stark reminder of all the baggage that would necessarily come with the Roman Catholic Church in the event of restored communion. And frankly it is baggage no one over here feels we need.