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                                                                   December 2010 E-Newsletter
                                                                        
                   
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In This Issue
Vatican II Videos by Fr. John O'Malley SJ...
Cardinal Newman on Consulting the Faithful
Cardinal Piacenza focus of Optional Celibacy E-Postcard.
Married Priests Ordained in Montana, Sacramento.
Yonkers priests call for delay in Missal implementation.
Official says Rome should reconcile with US nuns
Pastor supports woman discerning diaconate
Theresa Kane Launches FC...Twentieth Anniversary
Parish closing and appeals news
Other Church News
Upcoming FutureChurch events
Sponsor a Listening Session on the future of the Church
Donate
Poggioli PostcardPopes, Politics and Poggioli

National Public Radio's Sylvia Poggioli on 28 years of reporting
from Europe and the Vatican.

February 3, 7:30 PM Cleveland State University.
Get Tickets Here


Inspirational Videos on Vatican II by Fr. John O'Malley SJ
Video Pic

       FutureChurch        Preconference before
American Catholic Council

June 10, 2011

(early bird rates available)
Louise Akers
Keynote Sr. Louise Akers with panel of activists.

Daylong teach-in on
principles of community organizing, gospel non-violence and

FutureChurch's proven systemic change resources.

Info and Register here
Claim Your Catholic Rights!
(and Responsibilities)



American Catholic Council


Pentecost Weekend

June 10-12, 2011

Detroit Convention Center

Click for more info!

Register Now button
(Discounts for Early birds)


 Women Leaders in Early Christianity CD and Presenter's Guide
WOEC
Includes 43 images of catacomb frescos and sarcophagi friezes of early women leaders and an extensively researched 16 page presenter's guide. Click here to order

So All Can Be at the Table
women deacon
Optional Celibacy
and Women Deacons

To send an electronic postcard asking to restore women deacons,
click here 

To send an electronic postcard asking to restore optional celibacy

click here

More info...

A Million Voices
A Million Voices: Gospel Nonviolence for the Life of the Church
Educates about Gospel nonviolence when a Catholic's right and responsibility to speak on a "matter concerning the good of the Church" (Canon 212.2) is violated. ($3.00) Info and download here

An important educational component is a CD audio recording of a 1999 debate at Georgetown University "Can a Woman Receive the Sacrament of Orders?" between Sr.Maureen Fiedler and Fr. Joseph Fessio.
Click here to order ($8).

Another  key resource  is Richard Taylor's wonderful book: "Love in Action: Gospel Nonviolence to Renew and Reform the Church" Click here to order  ($13)
 
Women and the Word for Educators: Free Sample!
 
Includes essays, prayer services and student work sheets about notable women such as Prisca, Phoebe, Dorothy Day and St. Mary of Magdala.

dinner dove

For a free sample packet to give to your favorite high school religion and Spanish teachers, email:
[email protected].


To  Purchase A celebrating Women Women Witnesses packet
click here

To send a post card to put women biblical leaders back in the lectionary
click here.
Spanish resources also available. click here

Organize to keep
P
arishes Open!
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Download Free Canonical Appeal Resources here

Order the Save Our Parish Community packet
here!

Email
[email protected] 
to become a local parish contact.
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Magdala Market Online Store

Dear Friends:  We pray God's richest blessing for you in the New Year.  Here is our December E-Newsletter. Share it with others by clicking here.

Cardinal Newman on Consulting the Faithful

FutureChurch celebrates 20 years of doing just that

Last September, Pope Benedict beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman before a crowd of 60,000 in cold and rainy Birmingham, England. As is often true of holy people, Church functionaries did not always appreciate Newman. In 1859 he was forced to resign as the editor of a lay publication known as The Rambler, for defending an article written by a Catholic layman. 


Newman believed that Church teaching is the result of both the laity and bishops "breathing together" (conspiratio). Therefore, a primary responsibility of both bishops and popes is to listen carefully to the faithful before teaching doctrine. For twenty years FutureChurch has respectfully made our views known to our bishops and pastors. We point with pride to some significant progress:.  Read more...


Cardinal Piacenza now focus of Optional Celibacy E-Postcard. In November, the Vatican announced that it  accepted Cardinal Claudio Hummes' resignation as Prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, upon reaching the age limit (75). The new prefect, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza,  worked at the Congregation for over 20 years. Since Cardinal Hummes was the original recipient of FutureChurch's optional celibacy electronic and paper postcards, the addressee has been changed.  But its fine to send another postcard to Cardinal Piacenza if you wish.

 

Send New E-Postcards  asking to open discussion of mandatory celibacy and women deacons.


Recent update on campaign.. 


View FutureChurch Optional Celibacy Videos


Download a free  So All Can Be at the Table  education-advocacy resource. 

FutureChurch Optional Celibacy Survey (2010)
Read Survey results

Married priests ordained in Montana, Sacramento

When the Rev. Bart Stevens was ordained a Catholic priest in Billings, Montana he shared the special moment with his wife and five children.  Stevens was an Episcopalian priest who converted to Catholicism.  Next June a former Lutheran pastor, Jeff, Henry, will become the Sacramento Catholic Diocese's  first converted, married priest. Henry's wife and daughter are also supportive.


Read more about the Sacramento ordination:

Read about the Billings Montana ordination 


Related Articles

Fon-du-lac priest sees hope for married, women priests


Pope says ordaining women is not the church's choice to make


Send New E-Postcards  asking to open discussion of mandatory celibacy and women deacons.

Download Resource to Continue Discussion of Women's Ordination

Yonkers priests call for delay in Missal implementation.  The priests of a vicariate in the Archdiocese of New York just passed a resolution calling for postponement of implementation of the Roman Missal.  Read resolution and more...


WIKILeaks posts Roman Missal, Propers of the Season. An anonymous source has apparently posted recent controversial translations of the Roman Missal and Propers of the Season.  Read more...


Related

Click here for Roman Missal WikiLeak

Click here for Proper of the Season WikiLeak


The Mystery of the Leaked Missal  (a conservative blogger gives history)

Bishop affirms timeline for implementation of new missal in US


Areas of Difficulty in the Received Text of the Missal



Vatican official says Rome should reconcile with US nuns. In a recent interview Archbishop Joseph Tobin, Secretary of the Vatican Congregation overseeing religious orders, said Rome must acknowledge the "depth of anger and hurt" provoked by their unsought visitation of American nuns, and pointed to the need for a "strategy of reconciliation" with women religious.  Read more...


"Rome's checkbook strategy on women religious."  "I think most Americans are wildly insulted by the Vatican's implied criticism and perceived (if not real) threatening behavior toward women in general and women religious in particular. You have to wonder if the Vatican is now waking up to the fact that American women control the bulk of those millions of checkbooks."  (Dr. Phyllis Zagano) Read more...


Related Articles:

 USC HonorsWomen Religious


PD article if it shows

Pastor supports woman discerning diaconal call. Last November, an Evanston, IL pastor, Fr. Bill Tkachuk, wrote this about accompanying parishioners in vocational discernment:   With one woman, Lynne Mapes-Riordan, I realized that I was hearing a perceived call to diaconate, and I was feeling the same comfort in supporting her that I have felt in supporting men with the similar backgrounds and experiences.... Obviously, this is territory that rarely has been explored in the contemporary history of the Church. At the same time, it is an area that we are allowed to explore within current Church teachings and practices. [emphasis in original]   Read more... (pdf download)

 

New! FC E-Postcard for women deacons Just before

last Christmas, Pope Benedict made changes in canon law that according to female diaconate expert, Dr. Phyllis Zagano, "may have ended the controversy over whether women can be ordained deacons." FutureChurch has added an electronic postcard asking to open the permanent diaconate to women to our international our So All Can Be At the Table initiative. Read more and send a postcard


Related Articles

Is the Vatican Opening the Way For Women Deacons?

Eight Reasons to Restore Women Deacons
Sr. Theresa Kane Launches FC Twentieth Anniversary Year.

Catholicism Today: Evolution or Revolution? On September 30th, over 225 people gathered at the Cleveland Natural History Museum to launch FutureChurch's 20th anniversary celebration. Keynote speaker Sr Theresa Kane encouraged followers of Jesus today to belong to small communities, loose knit groups of disciples living the teachings of Jesus and seeking spirituality. Read more...

 Podcast of Sr. Kane's Talk Here


Rev. Louis J. Trivison Honored. FutureChurch's 20th anniversary year was a fitting time to posthumously recognize our co-founder Fr. Louis J. Trivison with the very first award named in his honor.  "Louie was FutureChurch's first and best guide through the labyrinthine paths of diocesan and church politics. ... [He] had the prophet's gift of knowing just how firmly and when to push and what battles were best avoided..." said Sr. Chris Schenk.  Read more... 


Parish Closing and Appeals News

 

Syracuse parishioners win hearing at Vatican top court. "This is highly significant because it's the first and only case to my knowledge from an American parish group that's made it all the way to be granted a full court hearing," said Peter Borre, chairman of the American Council of Parishes, a Boston-based advocacy group which helps parishes with their appeals. "It seems like they went about it the right way, where others may have made technical mistakes," said Matthew Loveland, who teaches Sociology at LeMoyne Colleg..  "And getting this far has motivated a lot of others to fight for their parishes. More than anything, I think this demonstrates the significance of parishes to committed Catholics."  Read more...


At least three Twin City parishes appeal to Vatican. According to FutureChurch sources at least threeTwin City parishes have carried their appeal to the Congregation for the Clergy. More than 100 written petitions asked Archbishop John Nienstedt to reconsider the archdiocese's sweeping reorganization plan, which calls for 21 parishes to merge with 14 receiving parishes.. Read more...

Archdiocesan paper  here...


Subsidiarity apparently effective in Youngstown parish downsizing. The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown will have 25 fewer parishes in the next two years. Bishop George Murray SJ respected recommendations to proceed slowly, allowed parish teams to administer parishes collaboratively and appears to have encouraged local decision-making determining worship sites from merged parishes. "Obviously, no plan is perfect. I am promulgating this plan almost exactly as it was presented to me by the Executive Committee and the Priests' Council, because I have confidence in the process and I trust the hard work of all the people who thoughtfully and prayerfully made these recommendations," said Murray. So far there are no parishioner appeals. Read more...


Age of Diocesan Priests in the Diocese of Youngstown

4 priests - age 75 and above

10 priests - in their early 70s

45 priests - in their 60s

21 priests - in their 50s

11 priests - in their 40s

5 priests - in their 30s

1 priest - in his late 20s   For source click here


Related articles

Youngstown Diocese closes buildings, but merges congregations (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Community outreach must be main focus    (Youngstown Vindicator)

Diocese downsizing plan nears completion.

 

St. Jeremiah Parish vigils at Christmas (literally). For the sixth straight year, St. Jeremiah parishioners will celebrate Christmas in the midst of their valiant 24/7 vigil to keep the parish open.  Their appeal continues. " A notification letter was sent to the Congregation of the Clergy at the Vatican regarding our appeal on the Reduction to Profane Use.  This appeal is to protect St. Jeremiah as church. The Extraordinary Recourse to Pope Benedict XVI was delivered on behalf of nine parishes to the Secretary of State at the Vatican." They have even welcomed new members....many returning Catholics alienated from the Church. Read more...

 

Ontario parishioners want to dispose of parish assets to benefit local community.  Parishioners at North Bay Corpus Christi Parish Parish have written Bishop Plouffe asking him to "engage our pastor, finance committee and parish pastoral council immediately ... in a discussion about the transfer of ownership to the group we want to see use our building for the service of the community and the building up of the Church as a whole." The group said  an earlier letter from the Bishop  "did not say when the church is sold after January 1, 2011 the assets from the sale would go to the Pro-Cathedral and St. Peter's parishes."   Read more..

 
CORRECTION re: Springfield Diocese.   The November 2010 e-newsletter erroneously stated the Springfield, MA diocese is fighting to avoid paying real estate taxes on closed churches.  In fact Catholic Bishop Timothy A. McDonnell sued the city council and mayor of Springfield for granting historic preservation status to Our Lady of Hope church after it was closed in December 2009. The diocese has paid some taxes on closed churches. Our apologies for the mistake. Read more here...

Download a free Crisis Kit,
 
 or "Canonical Appeals for Dummies"
Or purchase Save Our Parish Community Resource
                  OTHER CHURCH NEWS 

Phoenix bishop removes hospital's Catholic status. Bishop Thomas Olmsted declared that St. Joseph hospital in Phoenix can no longer call itself Catholic because it saved the life of a pregnant mother of four. The woman and her 11 week fetus had become terminally ill with with pulmonary hypertension.  Medical indications were that both would die unless the pregnancy was terminated. A hospital statement said: "if we are presented with a situation in which a pregnancy threatens a woman's life, our first priority is to save both patients. If that is not possible we will always save the life we can save, and that is what we did in this case,"  Read more:


Related articles

Catholic Health Association backs Phoenix hospital

Abortion fight at Catholic hospital pushes ACLU to seek federal help 

The moral analysis rejected by Bishop Olmsted.

(Commonweal blog publishes moral theologian's view)


Thousands of Germans leave over sex abuse. In one diocese alone, Rottenburg-Stuttgart, by mid December 17,659 had turned their back on the Church, compared to 4,563 for the whole of 2009, according to new research.

Read more... 

And more...


Delaware parish weighs next move after trial verdict in abuse case. The pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Wilmington, DE planned to meet soon with parish leaders and attorneys to discuss a Superior Court jury's Dec. 1 orders that the parish pay $3 million to a victim of sexual abuse. Read more...


WikiLeaks cables show Vatican as horrified by Irish clergy's sex abuse. Read more...

Upcoming FutureChurch Events

Cleveland, Feb 3, 2011 7:00-8:30 pm: Popes, Politics and Poggioli NPR's Sylvia Poggioli on 28 years of reporting from Europe and the Vatican. Cleveland State University Drinko Auditorium. Tickets and info...

Cincinnati: March 12, 10 am - 3 pm: Women Leaders in Early Christianity: Evidence from Archaeology and Women Deleted from the Lectionary. Christine Schenk, CSJ $20.00 includes lunch. Please RSVP to 513.381.6400 St. Monica-St. George Parish Newman Center 328 W. McMillan Street Cincinnati, OH 45219 More info

Waterloo, Ontario: May 26-28: Canadian Forum on Theology and Education. Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church. Sr. Chris Schenk and Dr. Paul Lakeland at the University of Waterloo, Thursday at 7:30pm to Saturday May 28th at 12 noon. More info 

Detroit, Cobo Hall: June 10, 2011. Hanging Tough: Keeping Your Integrity and Changing the (institutional) Church. FutureChurch preconference before the American Catholic Council. Keynote Sr. Louise Akers. A panel of activists will anchor this workshop teaching principles of community organizing, gospel nonviolence, support and training in how to use FutureChurch's proven systemic change resources. Early bird (before May 20th) $40. After May 20th, $50. More info and register
Sponsor a Listening Session On the Future of the Church  The American Catholic Council is a new coalition of organizations, communities and individuals organizing "discussion at every level of the Catholic Church in the United States to consider the state and future of our Church." The coalition will convene a nationwide conference on Pentecost 2011 (June 10-12) at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

But first it hopes to encourage local and regional listening sessions to be held over the next 5 months.

Read about the April 21, 2010 Cleveland Listening Session

Download a free toolkit for sessions in your home, parish or small faith community.

More info on the American Catholic Council,
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